Hermione Weasley and the Hidden Forest
by jdg9813
Summary: "Sequel to Hermione Granger and the S.P.E.W Office" Hermione is enjoying married life as a psycopath goes on the loose, the kind that kills young women, she finds solitude in a forest cut off from the rest of the world, but is it as safe as it seems?
1. Chapter 1

**First Class**

Hermione Weasley sat at the bar, it was a sunny day that day, it always was in the Bahamas, the bar was circular, thatched roved and stood on a circular island in the middle of the pool, Hermione sat in a bikini and sipped her colourful drink with the little umbrella. She turned to see her new husband, Ron, sitting next to her in swimming trunks. He turned to her and they both smiled, this was their third week in the Bahamas, they were having lots of fun on their honeymoon, the hotel was amazing and Hermione was developing a tan,

"I can't believe we have to go tomorrow." said Ron,

"I know," Hermione replied, feeling the same way, "It's a lot of fun."

"Wanna take a swim?" he asked,

"Oh, alright then." she gave in, she took the last few sips from her glass and stood up beside Ron, he took her hand and they leapt from the artificial island, they landed in the pool with a large splash, their heads popped up from the surface of the water and they kissed each other.

They had done quite a bit since they arrived; they had been paragliding, jet skiing, scuba diving and all sorts more. They had fun in the pool for a while but soon got out, they went back up to their room to change their clothes, Hermione loved their hotel room, they had managed to get the honeymoon suite, the bed was large and heart-shaped, it was well-used although not much sleeping actually got done on it whilst they were there. Hermione slipped on a small, flowy white dress and Ron just wore a flowery shirt and a pair of shorts, they went down to the restaurant to have dinner.

They were seated at a table and ordered,

"So," asked Ron, "How are we getting back home tomorrow?"

"I've booked us tickets on a plane." she said,

"A plane, why use a plane?" he asked, slightly confused,

"Because I say so." she said,

"That's a good argument." he concluded, Hermione laughed and they ate.

After dessert, evening had fallen, the sunset was beautiful, Hermione and Ron decided to take advantage of that and walked barefoot along the beach, holding hands. Hermione saw the footprints she had made in the sand and felt Ron's wedding ring on his finger, it was nice, made it all official, they were married and they were happy and nothing could ruin that, nothing. They kissed on the empty beach as the sunny day turned into a warm night. Ron ran into the ocean and Hermione chased him, they stood and let the waves tickle their toes and Ron jumped in, Hermione did the same, they splashed around and laughed, having fun, she generally did with Ron, it was a perfect night, they kissed under the moonlight and lost their clothes along the way and…

The next morning they woke up after a mere two hours, Hermione opened her eyes and Ron turned around to her in bed,

"Morning." he said quietly,

"Good morning." she reciprocated, she kissed him and he held her,

"What time does the flight leave?" asked Ron,

"We have a few hours to kill." she said,

"I know what we could fill that time with." he said,

"Hmm," she replied, "I have a few ideas."

They sat in the airport four hours later waiting to board their flight back to England,

"Can't wait to enter our house for the first time as a married couple, Mrs. Weasley." said Ron,

"Nor me." said Hermione, "By the way, I sort of lied." she admitted,

"What, you've been faking it this whole time?" he asked,

"Oh, no, not that, I mean that the reason that I wanted to return by plane is because I got some first class tickets." she said,

"Really?" she nodded in response, "Cool," he said, "What's that like?" he asked,

"I don't know." she said, "Why don't we find out?"

"I say we must." he said. They waited in the first class lounge which was filled with comfy chairs, television, a bar, rich people and food, it was very luxurious and the time to board the plane eventually came.

They lined up behind a desk, they handed in their passports, flight information and boarding passes and went down a hallway, they got onto the plane and were seated in the first class section of the plane. It was at the front of the aeroplane and was very fancy, they sat in their seats which were two of the most comfortable seats either of them had ever sat on, they were immediately handed champagne and silver platters of food which Ron took as a personal challenge and in the back of the seats in front of them, were little televisions playing movies that they used headphones to listen to, this was the way to travel.

"You know, I wouldn't need all of this stuff to have a great journey, because I have a first class wife." said Ron,

"Aw," she said, "Well I need the stuff." she joked, they laughed and she kissed him, they carried on watching the movie on the screen, Ron enjoyed them as he had grown up without television, yes his pictures moved but he couldn't _hear_ them. Hermione was given a pillow by one of the stewardesses and fell asleep looking out of the window and seeing all of the clouds passing.

By the time she woke up, the plane was coming to a land; she and Ron retrieved their luggage from the compartment and exited the plane at Heathrow Airport in London. Once they had left the airport they went to a place were they made sure no-one was watching them and dissapparated.

They appeared outside of their farmhouse, Hermione, suitcases in hand, walked up the porch to the front door,

"Where do you think your going?" asked Ron, chasing her up the porch,

"Excuse me?" she asked, she put down the suitcases and Ron picked her up, one arm supported her back and the other was under her knees, she put her arms his neck, she used one to open the door and they walked in to darkness, the lights suddenly flicked on and they were greeted by the word:

"SURPRISE!" yelled by many people in the house, Hermione lowered to the floor and Ron brought the luggage in,

"So, how was it?" asked Ginny, who was one of the people there,

"It was fun." she said,

"And how are you?" she asked,

"I'm fine." said Hermione,

"Did you have fun?" asked Demelza,

"Yes." said Hermione,

"Glad your back." said Harry, she hugged the guests individually and Harry helped Ron take the suitcases upstairs and Hermione talked with Ginny and Demelza in the kitchen.

"Is Luna not here then?" she asked,

"No, she left soon after you and Ron did, back around the world." said Ginny,

"And how are you two?" asked Hermione,

"We're fine." said Ginny,

"I'm working with patients and stuff at actual St. Mungo's Hospital." said Demelza,

"That's great." said Hermione, she hugged her, "And how's the healer training going?" she asked,

"It's going great." Demelza replied, "I've nearly earned my healers robes." she said,

"Don't you get them when you've finished the college?" asked Ginny,

"No," said Demelza, "You earn them after reaching a certain stage in your training, most people in my year are at the same stage, there's a whole ceremony held and everything." she said, "Of course, we don't wear them until we work in St. Mungo's for real, we just wear the training robes." she added,

"Well, we'll be there, won't we?" said Hermione,

"Yeah." said Ginny,

"Anyway, enough about me, how are you finding married life?" asked Demelza,

"Oh, it's great." said Hermione.

"How were the Bahamas?" asked Ginny,

"Hot." said Hermione,

"There's probably room for elaboration." said Demelza,

"Well," Hermione began, "The hotel was great, four star, the restaurant had delicious food, the view was beautiful, the beach was exotic as were the people who were so nice and the cocktails were many."

"Wow," said Ginny, "Sounds fun."

"It was," said Hermione, "And we flew home first class."

"What's that like?" asked Demelza,

"Like lying in a world made of clouds but with television and people to give you free stuff." she explained simply.

"Well, they may not know magic but those muggles certainly know how to live." said Ginny,

"Yeah they do." said Hermione.

"So when do you go back to work?" asked Demelza,

"On Monday." said Hermione,

"Is it going to be hard since Rita left?" asked Ginny,

"I think you mean Vineeta, and no, it won't, it'll be just like how it was when I started, I'll just hire someone new and perform a full, personal background check and wire them up to a lie machine to make sure that they don't steal the country's money." she said,

"Sounds reasonable." said Demelza, Hermione nodded,

"And you Ginny?" asked Hermione, "How's living with Harry?" she asked,

"It's great, the house is great, everything is." said Ginny,

"I hope Luna comes back soon." said Demelza,

"Me too." said Ginny,

"Do either of you know when she'll be returning?" asked Hermione,

"No." said Ginny,

"We'll have to write and find out." said Demelza,

"So, Dem, speaking of the ceremony, how's Mitchell, is he close to that?" asked Hermione,

"Yes, he's working at the same pace as me, we're doing fine." she said Demelza.

"And everything's fine with you, Mrs. Weasley?" asked Ginny, "That makes you sound like my mum." she added,

"Yes, everything's fine, I'm doing great." said Hermione.

Hermione and Ron got ready for bed that night,

"Well, we finally made it, husband and wife." he said,

"Yes." she said,

"It's perfect isn't it, us: married, living in a house of our own with our four pets, it's the dream." Hermione agreed with him there, this was what she wanted out of life,

"So long as I don't have as many children as the other Mrs. Weasley." she said,

"Well if she were to have stopped at Percy then we wouldn't be here right now." he said,

"Good point." she said, the goy into bed,

"Do you think about that stuff for us?" he asked, "You know, kids?"

"Sure," she replied, "You no, some day." she added,

"Hermione?" said Ron,

"Yes?" she replied,

"I love you."

"I love you too." she turned out the lights and they went to bed together…as man and wife.


	2. Chapter 2

**Broom Racing**

Hermione went to work the following Monday, she made her way to the 'out of order' public toilets, lined up behind a cubicle, flushed herself down a toilet and appeared nice and dry out of a fireplace on the main floor of the Ministry of Magic. She walked over to the lift, she got in, the gates closed, it went backwards and then down to the fourth floor, the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. She walked into her office and sat in her desk chair.

She had some catching up to do in her paperwork, she looked up briefly at the chair opposite her, the chair that Vineeta had sat in, of course, she may have been a thieving lunatic, but she sure was helpful around the office. Hermione put quill to parchment and began on her work.

Hermione was quite proud of her work, so far she had abolished the law that said house elves can't use wands, she had started a house elf rescue squad, she had rescued a group of illegally kept house elves and she had passed a law stating that they could not be abused or abandoned. She continued to write until lunch came and she went down to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to have lunch with Harry, Ron and Neville, now that Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes had really taken off of it's feet again, Ron had stopped working there and was In the office everyday.

"So, what are you guys doing after work?" asked Harry,

"Not much, nothing planned." said Hermione,

"Why?" asked Neville,

"Because Ginny and I are going to the broom races and we thought that you'd like to come." he said,

"Broom races, what's that?" asked Hermione,

"Oh, it's where you race on brooms." said Ron,

"Yes, thank you dear." said Hermione with traces of sarcasm in her voice,

"It's like horse racing but on brooms." Harry said,

"Oh, so you bet on it?" asked Hermione,

"Yes." said Neville, "It's quite uncommon though, a rare occasion." Ron nodded,

"Oh, well, I guess we'll be there, won't we Ron?" asked Hermione,

"Yeah, sounds fun." he responded,

"And you Neville?" asked Harry,

"Yeah, sure, I'll bring Hannah." he said (Hannah Abbott was Neville's new girlfriend),

"Good." said Harry, "So we'll meet you all there?"

"Yep." said Ron.

Hermione went back up to her floor to find another stack of paperwork on her desk, she was almost starting to become overwhelmed by the work load on her first day back, she groaned and powered through it but thought to herself that one of the things that she would need to add to her 'to do' list, was hire some help.

After work that day, Hermione, Ron, Harry, Ginny, Neville and Hannah met outside of the broom racing, they entered to the stands which surround a track, Hermione assumed that this was where the racers went around, it had many hoops and bars and things on it that she supposed were obstacles.

"So what's a broom race like?" asked Hermione,

"Oh, totally brutal, no-one ever gets to the finish line intact." said Ginny, flicking through the leaflet, "Okay, who do you think I should place a bet on, Norma McCrockpot or Harold Sikes?" asked Ginny,

"How much are you betting?" asked Hermione,

"Five Galleons." said Ginny,

"Don't bother with them," said Hannah, "Tatyana Alison is playing."

"Really?" asked Ginny,

"Who's that?" asked Hermione,

"She's one of the best broom racers in the world, I'm surprised that she's here, I'll be betting on her, come on Hermione, come with me." she said, and Hermione followed her off of the stands.

They walked up to a man in a box with glass at the front but with holes in to make bets,

"Hello, I'd like to make a bet of five Galleons on Tatyana Alison." said Ginny,

"Okay," said the man in a suppressed tone, "And you?" he asked looking at Hermione,

"Well, Hermioine, are you making a bet?" asked Ginny,

"Um, sure, three Galleons on this Tatyana Alison." said Hermione,

"Of course," the man marked this down and Hermione and Ginny returned to the stands.

"BEGIN THE RACE!" said a man with a megaphone in a high up, overview, position above the stands. The racers zoomed out of the gates very fast,

"How long does it last?" asked Hermione,

"Ten laps." said Ron, Ginny was correct, it was quite brutal, one of the men fired a jinx at a witch and she back flipped on her broom and smacked into the wall and passed out on the ground with a snapped broom. They whizzed through hoops and in and out of bars, firing hexes and curses and jinxes at the other racers,

"LOOKS LIKE NORMA MCCROCKPOT IS FALLING BEHIND BUT THE OTHER RACERS ARE IN ROUGJLY THE SAME PLACE, AND, OH, THAT'S ASTONISHING, TATYANA ALISON COMES OUT AHEAD AND…LAP THREE FOR ALISON!" said the man with the megaphone.

Hermione assumed that Tatyana Alison was the witch in front of the rest of the racers, she was quite pretty, she was black and had long, curly hair, she was wearing yellow robes and was dodging many spells even though ten were being fired at her every second, Hermione was quite impressed, she went onto her fifth lap and hadn't a scratch on her, she sent back a curse and a wizards broom exploded underneath him and he fell to the ground and landed in a painful place.

Another witch was pushed forward off of her broom but she grabbed it in her hand and accidentally shoved the bristles in a wizards face causing him to temporarily lose vision and crash into the wizard in front of him who fell off of his broom, the witch holding her broom fell to the ground and the other wizard flew onwards until he got hit by a spell and froze in the air as his broom went on with him. The unsupervised broom flew up next to Tatyana and she set it on fire, reduced it to ashes and then sent them backwards, they hit a witch in the face and she crashed into the wall at high speeds, she fell off of her broom but the broom made an odd sized explosion which took out another wizard.

"ONLY TWO RACERS LEFT, IT'S TATYANA ALISON VERSUS HAROLD SIKES, AND SIKES IS CATCHING UP!" yelled the megaphone voice.

"Wow, it looks close." said Harry,

"Yeah," said Ginny,

"Who do you think will win?" asked Hermione,

"Tatyana, of course." said Neville, Hannah nodded and Ron said,

"Hasn't lost a race yet."

"Impressive," said Hermione, "Very impressive." this time she spoke to herself.

"AND LAP EIGHT!" yelled the man. The two racers continued to battle it out, Sikes fired many spells in Tatyana's direction, all of which she dodged,

"Isn't she amazing?" asked Ginny, Hermione nodded in agreement,

"LAP NINE!" yelled the voice and it was so close, they drifted in and out of first and second, Sikes kept pointlessly firing spells but Tatyana simply remained calm and went forwards, through the hoops and weaving in and out and over and under metal bars that now moved to make it harder.

"AND THE FINAL LAP!" yelled the voice, "TENSION IS SURELY RISING!" the two continued in an intense race, they were nearly at the finish line, neck and neck, the crowd fell silent. They were literally about to cross the finish line when Tatyana stopped and put her foot out, Sikes's broom splintered and he fell to the ground, broom hitting him on the back and he fell directly behind the finish line, Tatyana simply hovered through and the crowd all cheered,

"Yay, we won!" Ginny exclaimed,

"I know!" Hermione also exclaimed, they hugged and cheered, Hermione couldn't help but be impressed by Tatyana, she continued to clap.

Hermione and Ginny went to go and collect their Galleons,

"I knew she would win." said Ginny, "She's so good on a broom."

"Well, so arte you, you're on the Holyhead Harpies." said Hermione,

"Yeah, but, Tatyana just has something about her, something that just makes you impressed with her,

"And what do you think that is?" asked a woman's voice that was neither Hermione or Ginny's, they turned around and saw Tatyana Alison,

"Oh my God, I'm such a huge fan." said Ginny excitedly,

"Thank you, always nice to know," said Tatyana, "So, you're a Holyhead Harpies player, they're my favorite team, you must be Ginny Weasley." Tatyana shook Ginny's hand and Ginny turned to Hermione and said,

"The person I'm a fan of is a fan of me."

"I know." said Hermione who now received her own hand shake from Tatyana,

"And you're Hermione Granger." she said,

'Yes, yes I am, how do you know that?" asked Hermione,

"I saw your name in the _Daily Prophet_ about a month ago, you're assistant was arrested." she said,

"Yes, happy memories." she said sarcastically,

"You're funny, you work in the new S.P.E.W office, don't you?" asked Tatyana,

"Yes, why?" asked Hermione,

"No reason, its just interesting." said Tatyana,

"Right," said Hermione, "You were amazing in the race, I was very impressed." said Hermione,

"Thank you." Tatyana smiled.

"Can I have your autograph?" asked Ginny,

"Sure." Tatyana said, "Do you have anything for me to sign?" she asked, Ginny pulled out her leaflet containing the racers names and Tatyana signed it,

"Thanks, again, huge fan." said Ginny,

"Thank you, it's always nice to meet a fan." said Tatyana, she walked away.

They all left the tracks,

"Did I just see you chatting with Tatyana Alison?" asked Ron,

"Yes, why?" asked Hermione,

"Because she's the best broom racer of our generation." he said,

"Yes, she's quite nice, Ginny got her autograph." said Hermione,

"Really?" asked Harry. "Cool." he added,

"I know." said Ginny

"What's she like?" asked Hannah,

"She's super nice." said Ginny,

"Yes." Hermione agreed,

"That was quite fun." said Neville,

"Yeah it was." said Hannah,

"We should do this again some time." said Harry,

"Yes we should." said Hermione and Ginny added,

"Whenever there's another broom race."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hiring and Office**

Hermione had been back at work for a few weeks now but was still swamped with the amount of work that she was single-handedly receiving. She had decided that she definitely needed to hire someone to help out and went down to Kingsley's office to ask to set up some interviews. She walked in,

"Ah, Miss Granger, or, Mrs. Weasley as it is now." he said,

"Um, yes sir, yes it is, I was wondering about going about hiring an assistant." she responded,

"Well, as long as this one doesn't steel our money." he said,

"I'll carry out a full background check." said Hermione,

"As it happens, your request is moot now." he said,

"And why is that?" she asked,

"Because I was in the process of promoting your office." he said,

"Really?" she asked quite shocked,

"Yes," he replied, "You'll be moved into a bigger office and you'll have to staff it with more than just one assistant."

"But…but why?" she asked,

"Because you're one of the most successful offices in the Ministry, no other office accomplishes as much as you did in just one year." said Kingsley, "You'll be on the same floor and have a raise in pay."

"Well that's just fantastic." she said,

"I hope you're happy with it." Kingsley said,

"Yes, yes, of course I am." she said, "How many people will I have to hire?" she asked,

"I don't know a specific, about five would probably do." he said,

"Okay, I'll go and get started on that." she said,

"Goodbye Mrs. Weasley,

"See you later Kingsley." she said as she walked out of his office.

Hermione walked into her new office the next day, it was on the same floor as her old one and much bigger, it was empty at the moment but Hermione had brought some things from her old office and started placing them around, she put in her desk first and laid out all of her trinkets, she got in five more desks and stuck things around the office. She put up all of her S.P.E.W posters, newspaper clippings about house elves, copies of documents sowing the laws she had passed and abolished, more clippings from the interviews she had done and more.

Next to do was to hire the people who were actually going to work behind those five empty desks, Hermione had hated the interview process the previous year, she had gone through a number of disasters and ended with a 'perfect candidate' who was also a mass-thief. Before she had even sat down there was a knock at her door,

"Come in!" she called, the doorknob twisted and a woman entered, "Is this about the interview because I've only just sent out the advert." she said,

"Yes, that's why I'm here." she said, Hermione looked up to see that it was Tatyana Alison,

"What are you doing here?" asked Hermione,

"I'm interested in joining the S.P.E.W office." she said,

"Really?" asked Hermione, "You're interested in helping house elves?"

"Why yes, it's a major concern of mine." said Tatyana,

"Really?" Hermione asked again, Tatyana nodded,

"Yes I am."

"Why is that?" asked Hermione, Tatyana sat down in the chair opposite to Hermione on the other side of her desk.

"I told you, house elf enslavement is a problem with today's society, I want to help put an end to it, the poor little things, working their fingers to the bone for masters who aren't even grateful, I voted for the law to be passed saying that they can't be enslaved or abandoned and I thought that I could do a little more." she said,

"But aren't you a famous broom racer?" asked Hermione,

"Ultimately not that time consuming," she said, "It's a fairly rare occasion."

"Okay," said Hermione, "You will understand that we will have to carry out a full background check on you don't you?" asked Hermione,

"Yes, I understand, after you're last employee." said Tatyana,

"Okay." said Hermione, "Why don't you pick a desk." said Hermione,

"Thank you, thank you very much." Tatyana said, she sat down at a desk and she and Hermione chatted until the next interview arrived,

"So how did you hear about S.P.E.W?" asked Hermione,

"I heard about it in the newspaper and I researched it, I was so glad to find out about a place that cared so much about house elves." she said,

"And why are you so passionate about house elves?" asked Hermione,

"Because, I found out what they were at a young age and I saw them working in a rich man's home and it made me cry, I ended up setting them free single handedly." she said,

"Well that's quite impressive." Hermione said, "And what laws do you want passed?" asked Hermione,

"Well, I would like for them to work in cleaner conditions." said Tatyana,

"Interesting," said Hermione, "I hadn't thought of that as an important issue, how would you go about tackling that?" asked Hermione.

"Maybe by installing some sort of health code for house elf owners." she said, there was another knock at the door, Hermione liked Tatyana but she seemed a little too good to be true, she reminded Hermione a little of Vineeta when she and Hermione had first met and that scared her a little, but as long as nothing was to come up in her background check Hermione was alright with it.

"Come in!" Hermione called again, it was a man he sat down in the chair opposite Hermione,

"And your name is?" she asked,

"Edwin, Edwin Manning." he said in a creepy tone, he looked quite scrawny, he had long, messy hair and an eerie smile,

"An-and why do you want to work for this office?" asked Hermione, she stumbled as he made her slightly nervous,

"I need some money." he said,

"Anything to do with house elves?" asked Hermione,

"Oh, oh, of course, yes." he said, Hermione caught on that he was lying,

"Are you sure you want this job?" asked Hermione,

"I _need_ this job." he said,

"I don't think that you're what we're looking for." she said,

"You'll regret this." he said,

"Was that a threat?" asked Hermione,

"No, no, of course not." he said, he left the office in a strop,

"Well he was creepy as." said Tatyana,

"I'll say." said Hermione.

She went through a few other disasters; she had just told a witch that she was not good for the job when another witch entered behind her,

"I'm here for the interview." said the girl,

"Yes, yes, sit down." Hermione said, the girl was dark skinned and had long, braded hair, "And your name is…?" asked Hermione,

"Aisha Knight." said the girl,

"And why do you want this job?" asked Hermione, Aisha gave a small description saying how she felt sorry for house elves and had loads of campaign ideas, Hermione liked her and so, on the promise that a background check was to be taken out, hired her.

She had a few more disasters but her next hire was a man named Rupert Oakridge, he had messy, blonde hair and a cheeky smirk on his face, he said that he come from money and would be useful for funding, he had given clothes to every house elf his parents had brought home in the past and Hermione respected that. He too grabbed a desk and only two remained.

Next she hired another man, he was named Freddie Bingham, he had spent years living in the desert, raising and teaching house-elves that he had set free, he was part of a group of eco-rebels who freed many house elves and helped bring them up, Hermione liked this also and hired him.

Hermione's final hire was a witch named Breeana Carmichael; she had long, flowy, red hair and a pretty face. She had been hired because of her caring nature; she loved house elves and had always felt sorry for them, she had rescued some in her time and helped hide them from the authorities in fear that they may be put back with their abusive masters, she had built a small village for them on private land which Hermione found quite remarkable, she took the final desk.

Hermione was happy with the people she had hired and wanted to talk with them all together,

"So what do you guys think that we should do in terms of laws?" asked Hermione,

"I think that they should be able to work in clothes." said Breeana,

"Yes, that's quite a good one." said Rupert, "We could make clothes for house elves."

"I think that we should get them paid," said Freddie, "They do so much unappreciated hard work." he argued,

"But not before we get them holidays from their work." said Aisha, "They deserve it."

"And you Tatyana?" asked Hermione,

"You know my view." she said,

"Okay." said Hermione,

"And they should get days off when their sick." said Aisha,

"And days off in general." said Rupert, "Like every Sunday or something."

Hermione pondered these ideas in her mind; she mixed out the scenarios in her thoughts, the consequences and the most necessary, she eventually came to a conclusion,

"I think that our next order of business should be to put in a health code to elf owners to improve their work conditions." she said, Tatyana smiled and the rest of them agreed with her,

"Okay, sounds good." said Freddie,

"Some of the ones I've found have been very dirty, this could help." said Breeana,

"Thank you all." said Hermione; it felt very odd to be giving orders to a room of five people who were all probably older than her.

A wizard entered the room, he looked sweet and innocent, blonde and sparkly eyed,

"I'm here for the interview." he said,

"I'm sorry, I have everyone that I need." said Hermione,

"Well next time you might want to tell someone that, you ever think of that?" he yelled in a groan of a voice, he went over to a potted plant and threw it at Hermione's face, all of the innocence vanished from him, the pot zoomed across the room and Hermione ducked her head, it smashed on the wall behind her,

"That's it, get the hell out!" demanded Tatyana.

"Don't worry," he said, "I was just leaving."

Hermione had now finished the interview process and couldn't have came out with another five people more perfect for the job, it still seemed a little too good to be true.


	4. Chapter 4

**Lucky to be Alive**

Hermione liked having an office filled with people who cared about house elves, it was nice to have people to talk to about certain subjects, people who understood, Hermione had carried out all five background checks on them and nothing unorthodox showed up, so she was happy but still not completely sure about them, Vineeta had really screwed up her trust in people.

That night, Harry and Ginny had come over to Ron and Hermione's house for the sake of dropping by, they were just chatting and drinking and having fun,

"So, Hermione, how's the office going since it got promoted?" asked Ginny,

"Its great." said Hermione,

"Is it true that Tatyana Alison works for you?" asked Harry,

"Yes." Hermione replied,

"Really?" asked Ginny in a slightly shocked tone, "Tatyana Alison is a spew nut." Hermione shot her a look and Ginny restated: "Someone who cares about what those elves suffer through."

"That's better." Hermione smiled,

"And how were the Bahamas?" asked Harry,

"They were amazing." said Ron, "Very hot but great scenery and lots of parties and alcohol, so, all in all: fun."

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up." Hermione added.

Ron poured the last of the firewhiskey into his glass and sat back down,

"Oh, have we gone through the bottle?" asked Hermione,

"Looks like it." said Ron,

"Okay, I'll go put it in the recycling bin." said Hermione,

"No, no, I'll do it." said Ginny, "I'm closest."

"No complaints from me." said Hermione, Ginny picked up the bottle and walked out of the door with it,

"Be back in a minute." she said before closing the door behind her. The three of them continued to chat and laugh for a while…a long while.

"Shouldn't Ginny be back by now?" asked Ron,

"Yeah, she should." said Harry,

"Probably can't find the recycling bin." suggested Ron,

"Yeah probably." Harry agreed,

"Even so," said Hermione, "I'll go check." She got up off of the sofa and walked out of the door, she closed it behind her and called, "Ginny! Ginny! Where are you?" No answer met her question and it hung in the air, Hermione walked slowly down the porch and along beside the house when she came across an awful sight. "Oh my God!" she screamed, "HARRY, RON! GET OUT HERE!" tears were in her eyes as she yelled, she kneeled down to Ginny's unconscious body, blood was pouring onto the grass coming from Ginny's left shoulder, it was from what looked like a knife wound, it was deep too, Hermione cradled Ginny in her arms, blood on her hands, she checked for a pulse and there was one, she was barely breathing though and completely out cold, Hermione took of her cardigan and used it to wrap up the wound and she put pressure on it, "It's okay Ginny, you're going to get through this." she said crying, "HARRY, RON, GET THE HELL OUT HERE _NOW_!"

"Alright, alright." said Ron's voice, he came out the door with Harry, "What's the emergency?" It was then that the two of them stumbled upon a crying, kneeling Hermione and a badly injured Ginny and there jaws dropped,

"Well don't just stand there we need to get her some help!" Hermione cried,

"Yes, yes, right away!" said Harry.

"Who did this?" asked Ron, Hermione hadn't thought of that, someone had intentionally done this, but who would want to hurt Ginny? Was this person still in the area? Could they catch him? More importantly, would Ginny survive?

Ginny woke up the next morning in a bed in St. Mungo's Hospital,

"Hey, you're up." said Hermione, Harry and the rest of the Weasley's all stood around her bed, Hermione took a seat next to her, "How are you feeling?" asked Hermione,

"Fine." said Ginny, weakly,

"Ginny, think clearly now, do you remember who did this?" asked Harry,

"What, Harry," she said happily, "No, no, t-they attacked me from behind."

"So it was intentional?" asked Ron. Ginny nodded,

"Do you remember if it was a man or a woman?" asked Mr. Weasley,

"N-no." said Ginny,

"Don't hassle the poor girl Arthur, she just woke up." said Mrs. Weasley,

"Of course, of course," he said, "You need your rest, of course when I find this person I will have to kill them with my bare hands."

"No, that's my job." said Harry, Just then, Demelza entered the room in light blue robes,

"Hey, I got word from the healers, they expect you to make a full recovery." she said,

"Really?" said George,

"Well that's fantastic." said Bill,

"It isn't that simple." said Demelza,

"What do you mean?" asked Harry,

"She'll need to be healed fully and that might take a while, it was a violent gash she received." Demelza explained, "She's extremely lucky though."

"How so?" asked Ron,

"Well, if the cut was the slightest bit deeper or any more to the right or the left, it could have punctured a vital organ and she might not be here right now." Demelza continued to explain,

"So, I'm lucky to be alive." said Ginny, Demelza nodded. "Well that's good news why do you all look so glum?" asked Ginny,

"Because Ginny, you were attacked, and they're still out there." said Hermione,

"But I'm alive and kicking, not so much throwing with this sling on my arm, but kicking, it's something." she said

Later in the day, Hermione brought a bouquet of flowers into Ginny's room, Harry was sitting by the bed but Ginny was sleeping,

"Thanks," said Harry, teary eyed, "Just but it on the bedside table." Hermione put the vase down where Harry had instructed and pulled up a chair next to Ginny's bed so that she sat opposite to Harry,

"You should get some rest." Hermione said, "You were here all night last night." Harry shook his head,

"No, no, no," he said, "I can't rest, not whilst Ginny's attacker is still out there." he said,

"Oh," Hermione understood,

"Who could do something like this?" he asked, welling up, "To someone as sweet as Ginny?"

"I don't know, but whoever they are, they're a monster." Hermione said,

"You got that right." said Harry,

"I'm going to go and get some lunch, so want anything?" she asked,

"No." he said, he kissed Ginny's hand,

"Okay, just please get some rest. Please." Hermione begged, she turned for the door when it opened and Demelza walked in,

"Great news!" she exclaimed,

"What?" asked Hermione,

"They've caught the guy, the one who attacked Ginny." said Demelza,

"What?" Harry asked now,

"Its true." said Demelza,

"This quickly?" asked Hermione,

"It's all over the paper." said Demelza,

"Well how did they catch him?" asked Harry,

"They have anonymous witnesses." said Demelza, "They said that they saw him running from the scene."

"Who were these witnesses?" asked Hermione,

"I don't know, that's why they call them anonymous." said Demelza, "The important thing is that the guys been caught, convicted and there is a pending hearing."

"Oh, I'm not gonna miss that," said Harry, "So I can kill the bastard."

"Oh yeah, so you go to Azkaban instead?" said Hermione,

"I just want to see him go down and know that he'll be rotting for eternity." said Harry with real anger in his voice,

"Ooooookay." said Demelza, "Well the hearing's tomorrow."

"How is it all over the paper already?" asked Hermione,

"Do you think that a Quidditch star can receive a near fatal injury and no-one would care, this guy's the most hated among British wizards right now." said Demelza, "Except for those eccentric Quidditch fans who really don't like the Holyhead Harpies." Demelza added.

"Anyway," said Hermione, "Lunch." she left the room with Demelza and Harry continued to sob over Ginny."

Hermione picked up a copy of the _Daily Prophet _that someone had leftlying around and began to read, the headline stated: _Holyhead Harpies Player is Lucky to be Alive. _She began to read the article:

_Ginny Weasley, 19, and Holyhead Harpies player, was attacked last night in the front garden of one, Hermione Granger, 20, by a mystery attacker. She received a deep, knife wound to the left shoulder that went in near her heart, she luckily survived the attack and is currently residing in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries where she expected to make a full recovery. Miss Weasley's friends, family, team and fans all wish that she get well soon and be back on the pitch in no time._

_It is highly suspected that the mystery attacker is Wallace Grammar (shown right), 25, as a large sum of anonymous witnesses saw him flee the scene with a blood covered knife, the knife has been tested and it is positive that it belongs to Ginny Weasley._

Hermione looked at the picture on the right of the attacker, it was the same man who had thrown the potted plant at Hermione's head, she knew he must have been violent but not like this. Why did he want to attack Ginny? Or was it Hermione that he was after? If she had not enraged him, would Ginny not be in there right now.

"So what happened at the hearing?" Hermione asked Harry the next day,

"He pleaded innocent but all of the evidence pointed against him, so they convicted him, he'll be off to Azkaban as we speak." said Harry,

"Good." said Ron,

"He deserves it." said Harry,

"Yes." Hermione

"I'm glad that was wrapped up quickly." said Ginny in her bed,

"Yes." said Hermione, but in her mind she was thinking: '_But just a little but too quickly, too perfect, too wrapped up, was this the last time I'm going to encounter this monster?'_


	5. Chapter 5

**From Tree to Tree**

Ginny recovered fairly quickly, her arm was already out of the sling, Hermione, Harry, Demelza and the Weasleys were there to celebrate the fact that she was leaving St. Mungo's, she was ready to go and they cheered,

"Thanks everyone." she said,

"Not a problem." said Mrs. Weasley,

"None at all." said Mr. Weasley,

"Oh, Ginny, Hermione?" Demelza asked,

"Yes?" Hermione replied,

"My robe ceremony is next week and I'd love it you guys would be there." she said,

"Well of course we would, wouldn't we Ginny?" Hermione said,

"Yeah, of course." said Ginny,

"Thanks." said Demelza,

"Where is it?" asked Ginny,

"Oh, it's in St. Mungo's College." Demelza told them,

"We'll be there." said Hermione,

"Yep." Ginny confirmed,

"Thanks." Demelza repeated,

"No problem." said Hermione, Ginny left the room with Harry and the Weasleys left with them, "So, you excited about it?" asked Hermione,

"Yep." said Demelza (her and Hermione were the only two people left in the room now),

"How many other people will the ceremony be for?" asked Hermione,

"About twenty people, including Mitchell." said Demelza,

"That's nice." said Hermione, "Where in the college is it?" asked Hermione,

"It's generally on the grass at the front of the grounds." said Demelza,

"So I shouldn't miss it then." said Hermione,

"Nope." Demelza replied,

"How do you like the work experience?" asked Hermione,

"Oh its amazing." said Demelza, "I've never felt more accomplished and useful, would you believe it, _I_ save lives."

"Well as long as you're happy." said Hermione,

"I am," she said, "I_ really _am."

"Goodbye." Hermione said. Demelza waved as Hermione walked out in the footsteps of Harry and the Weasleys.

Hermione and Ginny were in a forest walking up to a gate of an old, abandoned, muggle medical school that, from the outside, looked like a group of dank, dirty, disgusting buildings, the two of them walked through the gate and the buildings suddenly appeared clean and modern and there were people all around the campus.

St. Mungo's college had a nice vibe about it, happy and fun, Hermione saw the collection of chairs set up in front of a small stage that Hermione assumed was where the ceremony was taking place. It wasn't long before Demelza came running out to them,

"Hey guys!" she cried, she hugged them both individually.

"Hey Dem." said Hermione,

"Someone's excited." said Ginny,

"I know," said Demelza, "Today I take the next big step in my healer career."

"Good for you." said Ginny,

"How are you doing?" asked Demelza, "After the attack?"

"Oh," started Ginny, "It's fine, all back to normal."

"Good." said Demelza with a huge grin on her face,

"Still excited?" said Hermione,

"Oh yes." said Demelza, "I wish Luna could be here though."

"Us too." said Hermione,

"Do any of you know when she'll be back?" asked Ginny, they shook their heads, "Ah well."

Half an hour later Hermione and Ginny sat down in a segment of the collection of lawn chairs laid out in front of the platform. The announcer on the platform told the robe receivers to come onto the platform, twenty trainee healers walked up, including Demelza and Mitchell, the announcer handed them individually their cloaks along with a hand shake, they put on their cloaks, they were lime-green with a symbol of a bone crossed with a wand on them, Demelza looked very thankful and Hermione was quite proud of her, when she first met Demelza she never would have guessed that she would one day become a healer, she just assumed she was another Quidditch fanatic. The people on the chairs stood up and clapped.

After the people had departed, Hermione and Ginny walked along the campus with Demelza and Mitchell, both of whom were wearing their healer robes,

"So, how does it feel now that it's official?" asked Ginny,

"Well it's technically not official until we graduate in three years." said Demelza,

"But, still, are you proud?" asked Hermione,

"Yeah." said Demelza,

"It's quite a sense of achievement." said Mitchell,

"Enough about our careers, Hermione, how's the office?" asked Demelza,

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, the office got promoted and re-staffed." said Hermione,

"Oh, that's great." said Demelza,

"Pardon me asking, but what office is it you run?" asked Mitchell,

"The S.P.E.W office." said Hermione,

"Ah, I've heard of that, sounds a noble profession." he said,

"Thanks." said Hermione,

"And Ginny, what about you?" asked Demelza,

"Well, the team gave me some time off of training because of the attack but I started again yesterday, they made me a card." said Ginny,

"Oh, that's nice." said Mitchell,

"We were going to go get some ice cream," started Demelza, "You guys coming?" she asked,

"Yeah." Ginny answered quickly,

"And you Hermione?" asked Demelza,

"No, I'm going to be heading off now." she said,

"Are you sure?" asked Demelza,

"Yes, it was a lovely ceremony." she said, she walked away back through the gate and the building behind her turned once more into an abandoned wreck. Hermione walked through the forest surrounding the college, it was a nice August day and Hermione thought that she should enjoy it; she walked deep into the forest and noticed something unusual, she walked up to a distant tree that she had noticed and saw that someone had carved writing upon the bark, it said: _Patriam__Omnium__Magica._ Hermione didn't know what it meant; she thought that it was Latin, she moved her hand up for a closer inspection and went to press it against the bark but she couldn't, her hand went right through, into the tree itself, Hermione quickly pulled her hand out, there was no hole in the bark, no signal that it had been touched, it was very odd, she moved her arm forward and it went in again, she pulled it back out, she thought that she would try something, she walked forwards and stepped into the tree, but she wasn't in the tree, she found herself coming out of another one, some sort of portal, but Hermione then realised that she was in a completely different forest.

There were different sorts of trees all around her, ones that looked beautiful, ones that bore fruit, some that grew flowers, others that grew tall, they created a thin canopy with hot, sunlight bleeding through, there was a nice contrast of heat and shade, there were exotic flowers all around her, big ones, small ones, colourful ones, decorated ones and all sorts more. There were all kinds of bushes, some that bore berries, others that different and some of them had been fashioned into odd, yet beautiful shapes that captured the glory of the place she was in, and that place was a wonderland indeed.

She stepped backwards through the tree and was in the forest that contained St. Mungo's college and wondered where she had been and how it worked. Had he just been through a portal? She then thought of the barrier between platforms nine and ten at King's Cross station which led to Platform Nine and Three Quarters, maybe it was like that, one location leading to a completely different location, she wanted to explore the other forest a little more, she couldn't help but be curious. She rummaged through her beaded bag and pulled out a small, bronze compass, no bigger than a tea-light, she also pulled her wand from her pocket, she cast it over the compass whilst muttering an incantation, the arrow in it now, instead of pointing North, pointed at the tree that lead to the other forest, she walked through that tree again and came out in the other forest, the compass pointed at the tree that she had just walked through and she smiled and put it in her pocket so she would know how to get back to where she had been.

She walked along the most lusciously, green grass she had ever seen that sprouted small, multi-coloured flowers. She walked slowly to take it all in, she saw a red squirrel run up into a tree and a badger run under one, she had no idea where in the world she was but wherever it was it was beautiful. She continued to walk through the forest, enjoying the luxurious scenery, she saw a few adorable rabbits hop into their burrows merrily and the birds sang a most amazing song.

She wondered for a while whether this was a muggle paradise or a wizarding one and when she saw a phoenix swoop over her head, she decided that it was the latter. It was an amazing swan-sized bird with red feathers, golden tail feathers, beak and plumage and the most amazing wings that looked like a blaze in great speed. It started to sing a song, phoenix song, it was completely intoxicating, Hermione found herself closing her eyes and listening to some of the most fantastic music ever known to man, it soon flew out of earshot and Hermione noticed a large lake in the distance, at least, she thought it was a lake, it could have been a pond or the sea, she was too far to tell, one thing that she could tell was that she would definitely be returning to this forest, and soon.

She decided that it was time to go home after this great exploration experience, she pulled the compass out of her pocket and it pointed her in the right direction, she followed it back to the tree. She had found the tree and saw that this had carving on it too, this said: _Cum__Redeo__Domum__Meam_. She didn't know what this meant either but ignored it, she took one last look at the forest to take it all in, she then stepped forwards through the tree and back into the other forest.

She wondered whether or not she should keep this to herself, if she didn't, then who knows what kind of people might start inhabiting it, and if she were to keep it to herself, then she'd have her own little piece of heaven, a place that only she knew about, and that sounded nice. She wondered about telling Ron and thought that she should really, she continued to walk out of this forest and thought that there wasn't anything that amazing about it.


	6. Chapter 6

**The Legend of the Genie**

"A magical forest through a tree?" asked Ron after Hermione had told him, "When you were at the college, you didn't steel any pills did you?" he asked,

"No, there was a forest, I'm telling you." said Hermione,

"Fine, I believe you." said Ron,

"You don't mean that at all do you?" said Hermione,

"No." Ron admitted,

"I'll show you." she said,

"Fine, but I'm just saying that this whole thing sounds about as plausible as a you seeing a genie." said Ron,

"Genie's, I've never read about them, do wizards believe in them?" asked Hermione,

"No," said Ron, "There's one in a fairy tale but that's it." he said, "I think my mum has it somewhere, never mind, back to the subject."

"I will take you to the forest." said Hermione,

"Alright." said Ron.

Hermione had dragged him off to St. Mungo's college to prove it to him; she walked deep into the forest following the compass she had charmed,

"How much further?" he asked,

"We're here now." said Hermione; they stood next to the tree with the carving: _Patriam__Omnium__Magica._

"What about it?" asked Ron, "It's a tree."

"Watch." she ordered, she walked through it and ended up in the forest, she stepped back again to the other forest to Ron who's jaw had dropped,

"How did you manage that?" asked Ron,

"Just go through." he approached with caution, seeming scared of the tree, Hermione rolled her eyes and pushed him, he went through the tree and she followed him into the magical forest, Ron looked in awe. "So, what do you think?" asked Hermione,

"I don't know." said Ron,

"It's pretty amazing, huh?" she asked,

"I have a bad feeling about this place." said Ron,

"Like what?" asked Hermione,

"I don't know, like someone's always watching me." he said,

"Don't be ridiculous." said Hermione, "It's a beautiful place."

"Still, it makes me uneasy." he said, the phoenix soared across their heads and up above the trees again, Hermione smiled but Ron looked almost frightened by the experience,

"But you believe me now, right?" asked Hermione,

"Yes." said Ron, "I'd like to leave now." he said,

"Fine." said Hermione, they walked back through the tree into the not-so-magical woods, "Why don't you like it?" asked Hermione,

"I just get a bad vibe off of it." said Ron, "I don't think you should regularly be going there."

"It's completely safe." Hermione argued,

"Fine, but I won't be returning." said Ron,

"Okay." said Hermione.

Hermione walked into the Burrow the next day, she was curious about the genie that Ron had mentioned,

"Ah, hello Hermione." said Mrs. Weasley, "What're you here for?"

"Nothing particular, just visiting my mother-in-law." said Hermione, "So how do you like the house all to yourself since Harry and Ginny left?"

"It's great, nice, you go in the living room and I'll fix us some tea dear." she said, Hermione walked into the living room and sat on the sofa, she noticed the bookcase against the wall, stood up and looked through it, there weren't all that many books on it but one title that did catch her eye was: _The Myths and Legends of the Wizarding World._ Hermione pulled it out and looked at the contents and saw the story of: _The Genie_, she flicked through the pages and began to read the tale:

_Once upon a time, a famous dark wizard wondered through a meadow, he hated meadows as it was teaming with life and he much proffered things dead. He prided himself upon his magical talent, particularly the dark arts, and thought that no-one was a match for him. Whilst walking through the meadow, trying to get out as quickly as possible, he saw a glowing light from under a colourful flower, the light had no-specific colour but blazed all of them, he approached the flower, disgusted by it's beautifulness, and tore it from the ground, the light was revealed to be a woman, the most magnificent woman that he had ever met, she hovered upwards, she wore a gown that was woven by the God's and had hair that was like a waterfall of liquid silk, her whole body was glowing with all the colours of the rainbow. She hovered towards him and he was in awe of her,_

"_What is it that you seek in this place?" she asked in an intoxicating voice,_

"_Escape." said the dark wizard, "What are you?" he asked,_

"_I am the genie of this meadow," she spoke, "Answer me this, are you worthy of my wish?"_

"_I think that I have proven myself up to the responsibility." said the wizard,_

"_What is it that you wish for?" asked the genie,_

"_I wish to be the ruler of wizards and muggles alike, to become the emperor of this world." he said, bowing,_

"_T'shall be done upon a condition in which I have only one." she said,_

"_Put me up to any task and shall do it." he said, she waved her hand in front of him and she simply read, read with her mind,_

"_You are not worthy of my wish sir." she said,_

"_Why not, what is the act of which you have just performed?" he asked,_

"_I read your auror, your being, the very foundation of your personality and I'm afraid that much darkness is contained there." she waved him goodbye and he left against his will._

_An enormously wealthy witch walked through the meadow afterwards; she enjoyed the scenery of where she was. She had always prided herself upon her beauty and attractiveness; she came across a colourful flower that she thought was beautiful and must be hers, it was lit up by a mysterious glow which increased her lust for it the closer she got into it's bounds. She plucked it from the ground and smelled it, a woman lay beneath her who was flooding with all different colours, she hovered upwards and the witch felt jealous of the woman's beauty, she took it to offence and the woman and spoke to the wealthy witch,_

"_What is it you seek in this place?" she asked,_

"_Beauty." she replied, "Who are you?"_

"_I am the genie of this forest." she said, "Tell me, are you worthy of my wish?"_

"_Yes, yes I am, I will pay for any wish that I may receive." said the witch._

"_What is it that you wish for?" asked the genie,_

"_I wish for eternal youth so that I may stay gorgeous forever." the witch asked of the genie, the genie told her that the condition must be met and the witch agreed, excited to receive her wish, the genie held out her hand and read with her mind,_

"_You are not worthy of my wish." said the genie,_

"_Why ever not?" asked the witch,_

"_I detect greed within your heart, please escort yourself from my meadow." the witch found herself walking away against her own free will and the genie returned to rest._

_A humble, young wizard found himself lost in the meadow, he was frightened and scared, his mother was severely ill and on her way to an early grave, he spent his days and nights taking care of her he saw a colourful flower with a drawing glow, he walked towards it but decided not to pick it, he merely looked beneath it's stalk and saw a woman lying there who emitted glorious colours,_

"_May I help you?" he asked, she got up and hovered over to him,_

"_Now this is a turn of events, tell me, what is it that you seek in this meadow is?" asked the woman,_

"_A way to help." he said, "Who are you, are you lost?"_

"_I am the genie of this meadow, it is my home. Are you worthy of my wish?" she asked,_

"_Um, no, I do not think so, I am but a poor, young man." he said,_

"_I think that anybody has the potential to be worthy, let me read you." she said, he kindly knelt down and the genie asked him, "What is your wish?"_

"_I wish for my mother to be once again well." he said, she held her hand out and read him with her mind,_

"_I sense kindness within your soul, your wish has been granted." she clapped her hand together in an stream of colour,_

"_Thank you kind maiden." said the boy, he walked on happily and found himself knowing the way out, when he returned home he found that his mother was once again in good health, every night from that one onwards he thanked the genie through spirit and the genie was forever gracious to help._

_The End_

Hermione shut the book and Mrs. Weasley entered the room with two cups of tea in her hand,

"Oh, reading were you?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

"Yes." said Hermione, "it's a great book."

The next day she returned to the tree and walked through it to the forest, she walked deep into it and enjoyed every wonder that it contained. She found herself in what was like an alleyway with the trees acting as fences and grass on the ground, she saw a giant, colourful flower at the end of it. It was the size of a monster-truck tire and Hermione approached it, could it be? She walked closer and closer to the flower, her excitement rising, she looked beneath to discover…more grass, nothing, just an ordinary giant flower.

She stood in slight disappointment as she stood beside the flower,

"Where you looking for somebody?" asked n intoxicating feminine voice, Hermione looked all around her, but nothing was there, no-one, who could have said that,

"If someone's there, you'd better come out now!" Hermione called,

"Oh I am out, I am everywhere." said the voice, Hermione felt a breeze by the flower and turned to face it.

"Come on, reveal yourself, don't be a coward." said Hermione,

"I do not take to this kindly, I shall do as you command." said the voice, multi-coloured smoke flew down and spiraled down to the floor and took the shape of a woman, a woman who flowed with colour that vented from her body, she was extremely pretty and wore a flowy gown, her hair was long and lustrous.

"Are you…?" asked Hermione,

"I am Dantissa; I assume that the word to end your sentence is 'genie' which I suppose is one of my many titles,

"So you grant wishes and stuff?" asked Hermione,

"That depends." said Dantissa,

"I know, you have to read me to make sure that I'm a good person at heart, but don't worry, I'm not looking for a wish, it's just fascinating to meet you." said Hermione,

"This is not true." said Dantissa,

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione,

"I do not differentiate between those who are good and bad; the tale you have read is a mere variation of me and does not reflect who I truly am." Dantissa said,

"So how do you decide?" asked Hermione,

"Said person must first earn my respect, and then my one wish is their command." she explained,

"I see." said Hermione, "And what does one do to earn your respect?" asked Hermione curiously,

"That is for me to know and for you to find out, goodbye Miss Granger." she said, "Or is it Mrs. Weasley now?"

"How do you know my name?" asked Hermione,

"I know a great many things, Hermione, goodbye." she glowed brighter and transformed to a long cloud of multi-coloured smoke, it spiraled and then drifted away, the drift became a zoom and Dantissa was soon out of sight. Hermione wondered if she would be seeing her again but decided to return home, she followed her compass to the tree and returned to the other forest and then home.


	7. Chapter 7

**Speaking of S.P.E.W**

September had arrived now and Hermione went over to her letter box, she looked through the various envelopes until she came across one with the Hogwarts Crest stamped upon it, she retrieved her letter opener to tear open the envelope, she pulled out a sheet of parchment with writing on it and read the writing:

_Dear Hermione Weasley,_

_ As I am sure that you know, the Hogwarts school year has begun recently. I have been informed that your office at the Ministry of magic has been promoted and I would love for you to give a talk to the pupils about the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare (S.P.E.W) and explain to them fully what it is about. I intend to re-open it as a school club and I want the students to be fully informed about what they would be signing up for and the cause that they would be fighting for. I also intend to hold charity events in support of S.P.E.W and I hope that you will be happy to know that the house elves here at Hogwarts are being well-paid, having time-off and wearing clothes, I hope you will be arriving soon, go to Platform Nine and Three Quarters on the seventh where a train shall be waiting for you should you be interested and I very much hope that you will be,_

_Yours Sincerely,_

_ Professor Minerva McGonagall._

Hermione was happy to receive this letter and was full sure that she would be soon arriving at Hogwarts to give a talk on S.P.E.W. She thought that she should bring along the people from her office and one more person who had supported S.P.E.W ever since she found out about it. Hermione quickly pulled out some parchment and a quill and began on writing two letters, one to McGonagall and one to Luna (wherever she was right now) Hermione put these in envelopes and attached them to the leg of Pigwidgeon who flew off to deliver them.

On the seventh, Hermione got out of bed and felt that she needed fresh air, so she walked out onto the balcony outside her bedroom and watched the horizon. She soon saw an odd sight, it was of a pink bicycle flying towards the house, as it flew closer, Hermione saw the person who was riding that bicycle, her straggly blonde hair blowing in the wind, Luna Lovegood, S.P.E.W member since nineteen ninety eight. She saw Hermione from her bike and started to lose altitude, she was landing, she came down to Hermione's front lawn and put the breaks on the bike, she got off and pulled Newt the Border Collie from the bag in the basket and put him on a lead. She walked backwards and looked up at Hermione on the balcony who was looking at her,

"Hello Hermione!" she cried,

"Hi Luna!" Hermione cried back, "One second, I'll come down to let you in!" Hermione rushed out of the bedroom and ran down the stair to the front door; she opened it and saw that Luna was standing on her porch. Newt ran inside to Hermione and Ron's crup, Leontes, old friends reunited,

"So good to see you." said Luna, hugging Hermione,

"You too." Hermione answered, "Come in, come in." she ushered Luna inside and led her into the living room where they sat on the sofa and chatted, "So, where did you just come from?" asked Hermione,

"Egypt." said Luna, "I was exploring around the pyramids, very fascinating, there may have been a small mummy attack but beautiful scenery, the sphinx is very nice this time of year, I had a picnic on top of it."

"Wow." said Hermione, "You discover anything new?" Hermione asked,

"Yes, I have now encountered every creature from fantastic beasts and where to find them and most beings known to wizards, I spent a few days living with a herd of centaurs in the Himalayas, they accepted me as one of their own because of the special perfume I had acquired in China when I walked along the Great Wall and encountered a group of seers, the Centaurs were great help when it came to climbing mount Everest." said Luna,

"So you've done a lot then." said Hermione,

"Yes, I'd say." Luna replied in her dreamy voice.

"Are you ready to return to Hogwarts then?" asked Hermione,

"I am actually. It'll be nice to see it again after my year-long absence of it." said Luna,

"I feel the same way." said Hermione,

"So are you enjoying being married to Ron?" asked Luna,

"Yes." said Hermione, "It's great."

"Ah, so the charm I gave you is working I assume." she said, gesturing the outside window where a set of odd, yet beautiful chimes hung on a tree, Luna had given them to Hermione at her bridal shower.

"I'd bet that's it." said Hermione,

"So have you been having fun?" asked Hermione,

"Oh, yes, it's a great experience that I highly recommend, my book's coming along great, and it's just a matter of putting my notes together with my photographs." she said,

"Oh yes, your book," said Hermione, "Have you thought of a title yet?"

"It's a working progress." said Luna, "I still have some things to discover, still haven't found the crumple-horned snorkack but my other discoveries are great."

"What if you were to find a genie?" asked Hermione jokingly,

"Oh, I know genie's don't exist, I'm not crazy." said Luna,

"Yes, that'd be ridiculous." said Hermione. "Let me just go upstairs and get dressed and I'll be ready to go to the train station."

"Okay, I'll be fine to wait down here." said Luna.

Hermione and Luna arrived at King's Cross station an hour later; with them were Tatyana, Aisha, Rupert, Freddie and Breeana. They ran at the barrier between platforms nine and ten when no-one was looking and went through the wall, the sensation was the same as when Hermione went through the tree to the forest, the stepped out at Platform Nine and Three Quarters where a steam engine was waiting for them. It was not the magnificent scarlet engine that was the Hogwarts Express, it was smaller and dark green with black and red stripes, it carried a single, dark green carriage that was slightly smaller than the carriages on the Hogwarts Express. The seven of them stepped into the carriage; it didn't have cabins but was instead like a common room in a train. It had sofas and tables and armchairs which were very comfy and a waiter that kept serving them food and drinks. They sat down and the train whistled and began to move forwards. They all chatted onboard,

"So have you prepared a speech?" asked Aisha,

"Yes." said Hermione,

"And we interact with the students and try to convince them to sign up?" asked Rupert,

"yes." said Luna,

"I'm sorry, who is this again?" asked Freddie,

"This is Luna Lovegood, a member of S.P.E.W long before you guys." said Hermione,

"Why doesn't she work on the office then?" asked Breeana,

"Because she's been out traveling the world." said Hermione,

"Yes, I've been doing S.P.E.W.'s work abroad." said Luna,

"Really?" asked Tatyana, interested,

"Really?" asked Hermione,

"Yes," said Luna, "I've freed many house elves by knitting them clothes and I've saved a couple of colonies from ferocious masters and this one time, in the west of America, I found this underground diamond mine where all of these house elves where swinging pickaxes and being whipped. I herded them in a mine-train and escaped along the track to the surface, despite the flames the masters shot at us, I then attached the mine-train to my bicycle, charmed it, and flew them to a distant state."

"Wow." said Breeana.

"Wow indeed." said Hermione who was surprised that Luna had never told her these things.

The train soon came to a halt and the seven of them stepped out onto Hogsmeade Station, it was nice to be back. They hiked up the hill to the amazing Hogwarts Castle, walked through a courtyard to the entrance, large oak doors that guarded the trespass. Hermione pushed them open and the seven of them entered the castle, they walked into the Great Hall where all of the Hogwarts students were eating lunch at the four house tables, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Professor McGonagall with her tight bun and square spectacles walked up to them,

"Ah, hello Mrs. Weasley." she said,

"Good to see you again Professor." said Hermione she shook her hand and McGonagall shook the rest of their hands.

"I hope you're well prepared." she said,

"Yes Professor." said Hermione,

"Okay then, come up front." she said, ushering her to the front of the Great Hall and the rest of them to the front of the hall, McGonagall tapped her goblet with a fork top claim the students' attention, "Settle down. settle down, now, I know that you've all seen the sign up sheets around the school for S.P.E.W, and we have a special talker here today, the founder herself and the current members, I'd like you to welcome Hermione Weasley." they gave a half-hearted clap and Hermione stepped to the front, she recognised a few faces in the crowd from her time there and began to talk,

"Um, hello, I'm here today to talk to you about S.P.E.W, or the society for the promotion of elfish welfare, some of you might be wondering what that is, and for those of you who don't know, it's a group that fights for house elf rights, making sure that they live well, get paid, time-off, etcetera and we could really use your help. I know that Hogwarts already uses S.P.E.W.'s policies and I hope for more people to enforce them to. About some of the work that we've done, so far we've abolished the wand law against house elves, we've illegalized abuse and abandonment against them, we've raised money and set up a house elf rescue squad and are currently trying to make sure that the conditions they work in are nice and clean…" the speech went on and Hermione finally got claps at the end (except from the Slytherin table).

They stayed at the school overnight setting up S.P.E.W, it took some work but the students eventually became interested about it and she got quite a few students to sign up for it by the end (again, apart from the Slytherins). Hermione, Luna, Tatyana, Aisha, Rupert, Freddie and Breeana all walked down to Hogsmeade station where the same train was waiting for them. The seven of them stepped into the carriage, it whistled and it began to move out of the station. They chatted again as it chuffed along the tracks,

"Well I think that that was a big success." said Breeana,

"Yes, me too." said Freddie,

"They did seem interested, didn't they?" said Rupert,

"Well I had a good time." said Aisha,

"Same here," said Tatyana, "I think we've started the next generation of S.P.E.W office workers."

"Yes, that's good, I'm so glad." said Luna,

"Let's just hope that out influence stays." said Hermione,

"I'm sure that it will." said Luna, "I've managed to change the ways of some abusive masters on my travels; you'd be surprised how much they stick with it once you convince them."

"I hope that's true." said Tatyana,

"I'm sure it is." said Hermione.

They continued to chat, drink and eat when the train turned and they looked out the window.

"I don't remember this part from te journey over." said Hermione,

"No, neither do I." said Luna,

"I'm sure it's nothing, probably just taking a shortcut." said Freddie,

"Yeah, that's probably it." said Breeana.

"Even so, I'll go and check with the driver." said Hermione, getting up,

"I'll come with you." said Luna, getting up also. They walked through two doors over the attachment of the train to the carriage and walked into the train. The fire was emitting large quantities of smoke and the driver was unconscious on the floor, Luna and Hermione coughed, Luna pulled her wand out and cast a spell to clear the smoke, it zoomed out of the window and the driver was still unconscious on the floor,

"What are we going to do?" asked Luna,

"I don't know." said Hermione, "We can start by resuscitating the driver."

"Good idea." said Luna, the train was moving with great speed and gaining more speed all the time. Hermione and Luna carried the driver to the carriage, the five of them and the waiter all looked shocked by his unconscious body,

"Okay, if any of you know C.P.R, use it." said Hermione, they rushed help him and Hermione and Luna went back into the actual train. "Okay," said Hermione, "Do you know anything about stopping a runaway train?"

"Yes, pull the break.' said Luna, she found a lever and pulled it back, the train slowed down but the lever snapped off and the train moved once again with unnatural speed,

"Oh no." said Hermione. Luna tried desperately to control the train, pressing things and pulling things, she did something wrong and they heard a loud _click_ from behind them, they both turned around and saw that then carriage had detached from the train with the train moving forwards and the carriage stuck where it was, Hermione saw the now conscious driver look at them from the carriage as they moved further away from it, "Damn it." said Hermione, her and Luna turned to face each other and screamed.

The train continued to gather speed and Hermione and Luna tried to drive it but nothing worked, Luna looked forwards out the window, and said,

"You're not going to like this." Hermione looked out of the window and saw that the track ended ad a cliff edge,

"Why would they do that?" asked Hermione,

"I'm guessing we took a wrong turn when we realised that we hadn't come that way before." said Luna, the train approached the cliff edge, "What do we do? Hermione, what do we do?" asked Luna,

"Move out of the way." said Hermione, Luna did so and Hermione held up her wand, "_Reducto_!" the side of the train exploded,

"Do we jump?" asked Luna,

"Yes, we jump!" cried Hermione,

"When?" asked Luna, the train began to fall,

"Now!" yelled Hermione, they jumped out of the hole in the train wall, they were falling down the cliff, "_Aresto Momentum_!" yelled Hermione, the two of them hovered a few inches above a ledge and then fell those few inches safely. They watched as the train banged down the cliff side, crashing and breaking and smashing. It ended in a small explosion at the cliffbottom,

"Next time we come to Hogwarts," said Hermione, "We apparate."

"Agreed." said Luna, "How come we didn't apparate when the train was out of control?"

"That would have been a good idea but I panicked." said Hermione,

"Do you want to do it know?" asked Luna,

"Yes," said Hermione, "We should probably go back to the carriage first." Luna nodded and the two of them dissapparated off of the ledge.


	8. Chapter 8

**Beneath the Surface**

Hermione had returned to the forest, she had decided to keep it to herself, Luna had gone back on her travels and Hermione sat under a shady tree reading a good book. She didn't take much notice of Ron's odd warning and continued to return there consistently. She finished reading the chapter that she was on and shut the book; she slipped it into her beaded bag and noticed a glisten in the distance. She stood up and walked towards it, after walking a little bit she realised that it was the large lake that she had seen when she had first arrived there, as she got even closer she noticed that it wasn't a lake at all, but an ocean. The weather got hotter as she got closer and the trees looked more tropical. Soon she was standing on sand with palm trees around her and waves calmly crashing in front of her.

She slid off her shoes and let the waves tickle her toes, she then decided to dunk a whole foot in, she was expecting it to be cold but it wasn't, it was neither too hot nor too cold, it was the perfect temperature. She decided that a swim couldn't hurt, she stripped off her clothes until she was in nothing but her underwear, she stuffed her clothes into her beaded bag which she left on the shore. She walked into the sea, it was nice, but she wanted to go under the surface. She went back onto the shore to retrieve her wand; she cast the bubble head charm on herself which caused an air-filled bubble to form around her head.

Hermione jumped back into the water, walked in until it was up to her neck, and dived under. She swam forwards a little and her ears were filled with a song, it was a nice, relaxing song being sang by amazing voices,

"_We live down in the ocean deep, unknown to man it's where we sleep, beneath the surface is our castle, made better without man-made hassle…_" The song seemed odd but sounded great, Hermione swam deeper and further and deeper and further still. She heard bubbles next to her and turned her head, there was a woman swimming alongside her, it startled her initially but she soon got over it, she looked at the woman's legs and realised that she had none, she had a shiny fish's tail. It glistened in the sunlight that filtered through the water and the actual tail parts were flowy and long. The woman to whom this tail belonged did not look like any mermaid that Hermione had encountered before, she looked a lot more human, the scales rose up to cover any obscene areas, her face was pretty and her hair was golden. Hermione turned her head the other way and saw that another mermaid was beside her, she looked forwards and saw one in front of her,

"_Come with us and see our kingdom, we share with you our knowledge and wisdom…"_ they all sang, Hermione swam with them as the lead her even further and even deeper.

The swam for a little while, all the while they were singing with their glorious voices. They went down and Hermione saw a golden glow, as it came into focus, Hermione saw that the glow was surrounding a castle. The castle was pearly and white and smooth with beautiful architecture and mermaids swimming all around it, interacting and socializing. Hermione was fascinated by this hidden culture and swam on as the mermaids continued to sing. She also swam past some mermen who were all in great shape, as were the women, they all had perfect figures. Hermione swam past the castle gates that she assumed were there for decoration as they were quite pointless when someone could just swim over them, and she went through the doors. None of the merpeople that she passed seemed surprised that she was there; if anything they seemed happy to have a visitor,

"_A human is within our waters, rejoice now all the sons and daughters…_" they sang.

The outside of the castle was nothing compared to the inside, it was fabulous, it had rooms and doorways, she went through one to a throne room where a large merman sat inside a giant clam wearing a crown of shells, seaweed and various other water-found materials. she swam around the interior some more, exploring the castle, every inch was beautifully decorated and the whole building was filled with song.

Hermione swam out of a window and looked again at the exterior, she went around the back of the castle and saw that a garden was hidden there, the bottom was sand filled with colourful colonies of coral, seaweed and flowers flowing through the water and pet grindilows swam around in harmony with the merpeople.

Hermione loved this place, it was amazing,

"_The human should leave whilst she still can, do not be claimed like many a man…_" she assumed that they meant her charm was wearing off, which she felt it was, she swam up to the surface and the air-bubble deteriorated as soon as her head popped up. She saw the shore far away but instead of swimming she dissapparated.

She appeared on the sand beside her beaded bag, she opened it, retrieved her clothes and put them on, she had been surprised to have found an underwater city of mermaids but she supposed that this forest had bigger surprises than that to give…much bigger.

She walked back along the forest floor under the shady trees,

"Did you enjoy the merpeople?" asked a voice, Hermione recognised it this time,

"Dantissa, is that you?" she asked, a multi-coloured cloud of smoke flew in her direction and form Dantissa,

"Yes, it is I." said Dantissa,

"And yes, I did enjoy the merpeople, very fascinating stuff down there." said Hermione,

"You still have a lot to discover yet." she said,

"I know, I had reached that conclusion by myself." Hermione told her,

"What is it that you seek within this forest?" she asked,

"Solitude." Hermione answered,

"And do you believe that you shall find it?" she asked,

"I believe it to be possible." said Hermione,

"Possible, maybe, you still have a lot of work to do to earn my respect." said Dantissa,

"I'm not all that interested in that wish that you offer to be honest." said Hermione,

"Oh, Hermione, you and I both know that that's not strictly true." she said, "Everyone wants my wish, even the kindest or most decent and selfless of people crave it deep at heart, it isn't necessarily on the surface but nonetheless it's definitely there, in all of us, even you."

"Okay, when you're done psychoanalyzing me, I have to go." said Hermione,

"But do you want to go, do you really want to ever leave this place, it is, how you put it: 'Solitude'" Dantissa said,

"I have a life to return to." said Hermione,

"Ah, so you are a liar as well as guarding secrets." she said,

"I'm not a liar…and I not keeping any secrets." said Hermione,

"Oh, but you are, for everyone must have secrets, without secrets what would be the point of us, the sensation of discovery is one of the best there is, and as for lying, everybody does it, to cover up for something that they don't quite want the rest of the world to know, so yes Hermione, you are a liar for you said this place was solitude and yet you have the intention of leaving, so you do lie and guard secrets for this is mere human nature." said Dantissa,

"Thanks for your time, but I'll be on my way now." said Hermione, "And as for the liar remark, I said I was seeking solitude not that I'd found."

"Oh, I'm afraid we'll have to see about that, for we lie even when we don't realise we're doing it, as I said, it is human nature." Dantissa returned to smoke form and drifted away from Hermione until she was out of sight.

Hermione awoke a few mornings later to breakfast I bed,

"Happy birthday!" exclaimed Ron,

"Thank you." said Hermione, taking the tray of waffles from him and putting it on her own lap.

"So what do you want to do today?" asked Ron,

"I don't know." said Hermione,

"Good." said Ron,

"Why is that good?" asked Hermione,

"No reason." said Ron,

"We're going on a date tonight, right?" asked Hermione,

"Of course." said Ron, Hermione tucked into the waffles as Ron sat beside her.

That evening, Hermione and Ron sat in a restaurant eating dinner,

"I'd like top raise a toast." said Ron, "To you, being the amazing woman that you are, turning twenty one today." he raised his glass,

"I'll toast to that." said Hermione, raising her own glass and tapping it against Ron's with a _clink_. They ate their meal which was very nice,

"With every year you still look gorgeous, my wife." said Ron,

"Thank you." said Hermione.

After a dinner, the two of them returned the their farmhouse,

"You know, I have to go and get something from the barn, do you mind coming with me?" asked Ron,

"Can't you do it yourself?" asked Hermione,

"No, I need you to hold the light." he said,

"Fine," said Hermione, they walked up to the barn, "What is it you need to get anyway?" she asked,

"This." he said opening the door to a whole party that was going on, there was a banner that said, _Happy 21__st__ Birthday Hermione_. People were dancing to music and drinking and having fun,

"Thanks for this." said Hermione, hugging Ron.

She danced around for a while and went off to talk to Ginny,

"Happy twenty first." said Ginny,

"Thanks." Hermione replied,

"If this were America you'd be able to drink legally." she said,

"Yes, but this is England and I could do that three years ago." said Hermione,

"Yeah, it's probably a bigger deal in America." said Ginny,

"So, how have you and Harry been since the attack?" asked Hermione,

"I've been fine," said Ginny, "Harry's been a little on edge and overprotective but I think he's getting over it."

"That's too bad." said Hermione,

"Yeah." said Ginny,

"I know how angry he can be." Hermione said,

"Yes, that's what I'm worried about," said Ginny, "But enough about that, happy birthday!"


	9. Chapter 9

**The Art of Voodoo**

Hermione walked into the Quidditch stadium with Ron at her side, it was Ginny's first match of the league. They walked in and handed in their free tickets given to them by Ginny and found a place in the stands where they met up with Harry who was also rooting for Ginny. Hermione looked out at the Holyhead Harpies fans and saw banners that read things such as: _Weasley's Return_ and _Well Done for Bouncing Back._ Hermione assumed that they were talking about her attack and continued to watch the pitch anticipating the game along with the rest of the screaming Quidditch fans. The booming voice that filled the stadium soon arrived with,

"PLEASE WELCOME ONTO THE PITCH: THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES!" the crowd cheered as seven people with dark green robes whizzed onto the pitch, Ginny amongst them along with Gwenog Jones, Angelina Johnson, Rochele Applewhite, Marianna Romain, Dorabella Ricolleti and Valmai Morgan. Leprechauns danced in the crowd and the voice announced the next team, "AND NOW GIVE A WARM WELCOME TO PRIDE OF PORTREE!" seven people in purple robes with golden stars emblazoned on the chest now zoomed onto the pitch and the other half of the crowd cheered, "LET THE MATCH BEGIN!" the crowd once again cheered as the players disbanded across the pitch and began to play,.

"AND ANGELINA JOHNSON IS ALREADY STRAIGHT AT THE QUAFFLE, SHE ZOOMS ACROSS THE PITCH WITH IT AND, OOH, HIT BY A BLUDGER FROM BOBBY SIDANG AND RACHAEL BROWN STEELS THE QUAFFLE, SHE'S OFF ACROSS THE PITCH, SHE THROWS THE QUAFFLE, DORABELLA RICOLLETI REACHES OUT BUT THE QUAFFLE HITS HER ARM AND GOES IN, TEN POINTS TO THE PRIDES, LOOKS LIKE RICOLLETI WILL HAVE A BAD BRUISE TONIGHT, BUT VALMAI MORGAN IS QUICK, SHE HAS THE QUAFFLE AND SHE THROWS IT, GINNY WEASLEY CATCHES IT AND WHIZZES ALONG THE PITCH, SHE NARROWLY AVOIDS A BLUDGER FROM GORDON HENRY, SHE THROWS THE QUAFFLE AND IT'S GOES IN LEAVING THE SCORES TIED AT TEN TO TEN!" said the voice as the game progressed.

Hermione sat for about half an hour of the game, the two sides seemed pretty much equally matched but Pride of Portree seemed to be coming out ahead at that moment, the crowd was fixated on the game, the tension was so thick that a single breath would have set everyone off balance,

"RACHAEL BROWN HAS THE QUAFFLE AND PASSES IT TO EVAIN AVAIN WHO'S ACROSS THE PITCH AND SHE SHOOTS AND SHE SCORES LEAVING THE SCORES AT FIFTY TO THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES AND SEVENTY TO THE PRIDE OF PORTREE, GINNY WEASLEY QUICKLY STEALS THE QUAFFLE AND PASSES IT TO JOHNSON WHO GOES ACROSS THE PITSH AND IS SKIMMED BY A BLUDGER FROM GORDON HENRY AND SHE PASSES IT TO VALMAI MORGAN, SHE THROWS IT BUT IT'S DEFLECTED BY MEAGHAN MCCORMACK BUT MORGAN GETS IT BACK AND MCCORMACK IS OBLIVIOUS AS THE QUAFFLE GOES RIGHT PAST HER WAIST, SIXTY POJNTS TO THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES!" the crowd cheered and the commentary continued, "EVAIN AVAIN ISN'T HAPPY ABOUT THIS, SHE TAKES THE QUAFFLE FOR HER OWN BUT IS HIT BY A BLUDGER FROM GWENOG JONES, SHE DROPS THE QUAFFLE AND IT'S CAUGHT BY VICTOR RYANSON WHO'S HIT BY A BLUDGER FROM ROCHELE APPLEWHITE, HE LOSES ALTITUDE BUT IS BACK UP WITH THE QUAFFLKE STILL IN HIS HAND, HE THROWS FOR THE HOOP BUT IT'S BLOCKED WELL BY DORABELLA RICOLLETI!"

The game went on for a while more until the snitch ever made an appearance, but nevertheless it finally did,

"DOUGAL MCBRIDE HAS EYE ON THE SNITCH, HE PERSUES IT BUT MARIANNA ROMAIN IS FRESH ON HIS TAIL, RACHAEL BROWN HAS THE QUAFFLE BUT IS HIT BY A BLUDGER FROM GWENOG JONES, GIINY WEASLEY STEALS THE QUAFFLE AND GOES FOR THE HOOP, SHE THROWS IT BUT IT'S BLOCKED BY MEAGHAN MCCORMACK AND VICTOR RYANSON HAS THE QUAFFLE, HE AVOIDS A BLUDGER FROM JONES AND ANOTHER FROM APPLEWHITE, HE THROWS IT RIGHT PAST RICOLLETI, NINETY POINTS TO THE PRIDES, MCBRIDE STRETCHES FOR THE SNITCH BUT IS HIT BY GWENOG JONES, GOOD SHOT JONES, MARIANNA'S DONE IT, SHE'S CAUGHT THE SNITCH GIVING THE HARPIES AN EXTRA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY POINTS LEAVING THEM WITH TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY AND THE PRIDES AT NINETY, THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES WIN!" half of the crowd cheered including Hermione, Harry and Ron.

Hermione delivered some files to Kingsley in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement a few days later; he thanked her and walked back down the hall. She walked past the interrogation room with a one-way mirror and saw through the glass, two men were interrogating a creepy looking man, they held a doll up to a candle and the creepy man began to sweat and cry out in pain, they moved the doll away and the pain stopped, Hermione saw him start to confess everything.

Hermione had been confused about what she had seen and when lunch was around she went back to that floor to eat with Harry, Ron,

"Where's Neville?" she asked,

"Lunch with Hannah." said Harry,

"Okay," said Hermione, "I saw something odd today, I could have sworn that I saw a couple of interrogators using…"

"What?" asked Ron,

"Voodoo." she said in a hushed tone,

"Oh, yeah." said Harry,

"But I've read about voodoo, it's seriously dark magic, completely illegal." said Hermione,

"Yeah but it's allowed in extreme cases, only a handful of aurors are trained in it." said Ron,

"Are either of you?" she asked,

"No, of course not." said Harry,

"So, what kind of extreme cases?" asked Hermione,

"Mainly violent murderers, they have to have a lot of evidence on them first though in case that there's a chance that they didn't commit the crime, otherwise they can be sued for improper torture and unnecessary trauma." said Ron,

"Oh, well that sounds fair enough." said Hermione,

"I think so." said Harry.

Hermione thought of the one place she had seen voodoo dolls before and her mind was cast back less than a year before. She had given them a quick glance at Wiz Kidz, Danielle's shop in Hogsmeade. Danielle had once been an auror and Hermione wondered if she had ever been trained in voodoo before. Hermione was now curious about this and wanted to know more about it, the books she had read were very limited upon the actual knowledge, they just mentioned how illegal it was.

The next day, Hermione paid a visit to the village of Hogsmeade, the only entire-wizarding village in Britain. She walked along the crisp snow amongst the thatched roofed buildings such as Honeydukes and the Three Broomsticks. Hermione walked up to the shop with the luminous sign that said _Wiz Kidz_. She entered the shop, a bell rang when the door opened, and she saw it in all of its glory, it was a wizard's toy shop and even Hermione enjoyed being there, she noticed the addition of a model Hogwarts that really seemed to include everything, even little pupils walking around in it and she remembered the miniature Hogwarts Express running around the train track on the ceiling.. She looked up at a shelf and saw a couple of voodoo dolls; they were stuffed little people with pins stuck in them. Danielle soon emerged from the back room and to behind the desk,

"Ah, Hermione, I heard the bell ring, this is a nice surprise." she said,

"Thanks." said Hermione,

"So, are you just dropping by or can I do you for something?" asked Danielle,

"Are these real voodoo dolls?" asked Hermione, staring at them on the shelf,

"What, those, no, God no, they're just toys, plush toys with a couple of pins stuck in them." she explained,

"Do you know voodoo?" asked Hermione,

"Me?" asked Danielle,

"Yes, you." said Hermione,

"Yes I do." said Danielle,

"Could you show me?" asked Hermione,

"If you're sure?" said Danielle,

"I am." said Hermione,

"Alright," Danielle said, "Step into my office."

Hermione sat on the comfortable sofa in Danielle's back room; Danielle pulled some things from a cabinet and sat down opposite Hermione in an armchair. She lay the things down on the coffee table between them. It was a small doll made of straw, it had a straw dress, limbs and a round head which had a stumpy, small, hollow, metal tube on the top, no bigger than a large ant.

"This," said Danielle, "Is a voodoo doll."

"Okay," said Hermione, "And how does it work?" she asked,

"Well, first you need some D.N.A of the person that you intend to use it on.' said Danielle,

"Yes, I know that, generally hair." said Hermione,

"That's right." said Danielle, "Now, originally, voodoo was used by hags as an art form and a form of torture, 'playing with their food' they used to call it, since then they've toned down of course."

"Of course," said Hermione,

"Now, let me demonstrate." she said, she grabbed a small piece of Hermione's hair and said, "_Diffindo_!" a few strands came off in Danielle's hand and she put it in the silver bead upon the doll's head, "Now this is quite an old voodoo doll, most of the modern ones are made with clay."

"Yes, the one I saw was made of clay." said Hermione, Danielle stood the doll on the table and Hermione found herself standing up, Danielle moved the dolls arm up and Hermione's arm moved up, she lifted it a few inches off of the table and Hermione found herself hovering in the air, Danielle sat it down and Hermione sat back down on the sofa, Danielle removed the strands of hair from the metal bead,

"So, how did that feel?" asked Danielle,

"Weird," said Hermione, "It was like, I knew what I was doing but I couldn't control myself, like a greater force had all sorts of power over me to make me do what they wanted." said Hermione, Danielle then said,

"That's voodoo."


	10. Chapter 10

**Toadstool Town**

As September faded into October, Hermione felt the need for a bit of exploration and she sought that within the forest. She passed from one tree through another tree and stood in the forest. She walked around for a few hours, happily enjoying her surroundings, she felt so merry within this place that at one point she actually found herself skipping.

She came across a row of trees that had walls of leaves between them, Hermione poked the leaves, they seemed strong, they had been woven together. She tried walking through them but couldn't, they were still too strong, she then looked up at the tree and assessed the shape, it had lots of branches leading up it and therefore seemed climbable. She jumped onto the roots and then she rest her foot in a hole in the bark, she grabbed a branch and lifted her other leg to a lower branch. She climbed up the tree, higher and higher until she sat on the leaves at the top. Hermione tried to peer over the side to see what was on the other side of the woven leaf wall, she moved her foot but it slipped and she tumbled down, she felt her ankle get wrapped by something and dangled from the tree, upside-down, a vine had caught itself around her ankle, stopping her from hitting the forest floor.

She was greeted by a bunch of small civilians, they were waist height and fluffy all over, they wore pinstriped dungarees and were all pointing bows and arrows at her, the arrows pulled back in the bows ready to fire at her,

"Who you be?" asked one of them in an adorable voice,

"I am Hermione, I come in peace, I swear, no weapons." se declared, she tried to surrender but she was just dangling her arms downwards,

"Her-my-nee." they all said in unison, awestruck,

"Yes, please don't hurt me, just let me down and I'll be on my way." she said, they lowered their bows and arrows except for one who fired, the arrow cut through the vine and Hermione fell the last couple of feet to the floor. She stood up, "Thank you." she said,

"You welcome." said the creature that did it,

"What you be, you be a creature of pretty forest?" asked one of them,

"No, no, I'm a human, I come from somewhere else." said Hermione,

"Somewhere else, sound like fascinating land, you tell us all about it." it said,

"You come to our village?" one asked,

"Um, okay." said Hermione, they all cheered.

Hermione followed the odd, tiny-bear thingies through the forest, when they reached their destination Hermione was the one who was awestruck. There were a lot of houses but not regular houses, they were made of giant, oversized toadstools, they were spotty on the top, they had added stonework, chimneys, doors, windows and dormers. Hermione looked up and saw that the village continued in the trees with tree houses and stairs and platforms in the trees with more of these things,

"This is a very impressive place." said Hermione,

"Thanks, very, very much, we work hard for what we got." said one of them,

"If you don't mind me asking, who are you?" asked Hermione,

"We are the basimites, this is our village." one said,

"Its beautiful." said Hermione,

"Thanks." he said, "My name Bellus." he said,

"Well that's a very nice name." said Hermione,

"But our village, it fails." said Bellus,

"And why is that?" asked Hermione,

"Food, running out." he said,

"But this forest is filled with fruit trees." said Hermione,

"We, no, no, we no eat human food, we only eat beatusberries." he said,

"And where are they?" asked Hermione,

"At top of mountain." said Bellus, he gestured to his left and Hermione could not believe that she didn't realise that the village was based at the top of a mountain, she had to look down when talking to these people, she had seen it in the distance in the forest before but had never been this close to it.

"Can you not just climb it?" asked Hermione,

"No, no, no, that's where montemites live." he said,

"Who are the montemites?" asked Hermione,

"They another tribe of us, we at war with them." said Bellus,

"Why?" asked Hermione,

"Me no know." he said,

"If you don't know then why are you fighting?" asked Hermione,

"Because, we at war." he said,

"Yes, I got that bit, but…never mind." said Hermione, "Can't you make peace?" asked Hermione,

"No, we no make no peace." said Bellus.

"Okay." said Hermione.

She was ushered off by other basimites, she was taken into a toadstool house, she had to crouch slightly but sat in one of their chairs as the others crowded around the tree stump table.

"Tell us of the mysterious land of Somewhere Else." asked a basimite,

"Well, there are lots of people moving around all the time and metal boxes zooming about with people in them, and the birds, well, they're metal as well, metal birds with people in them flying in the sky and we have this magical object of overhead lighting." said Hermione,

"Ooh." they said in unison,

"Yes, pretty amazing." said Hermione.

Soon, the basimites had vacated apart from one, Hermione assumed that this was the chief judging that he was more decorated than the others,

"So," said Hermione, "Tell me about the montemites?" she asked,

"They hog food, none for us." he said,

"Why don't you make peace?" said Hermione,

"We want to, they stubborn, no share the beatusberries." he said,

"What if I try?" said Hermione,

"Be my guest." said the chief,

"Maybe I will." said Hermione, "Maybe I will."

Hermione stood at the foot of the mountain; she began to walk up it as the basimites cheered for her and chanted repeatedly,

"Peacemaker, peacemaker, peacemaker…" Hermione felt happy at this, the mountain began to become more vertical than horizontal and Hermione started to climb, she had no space to spin on the spot so she continued to climb, grabbing ledges and branches until finally she found a large ledge that she could stand on, she moved horizontally to get to it and she stood, she looked at the top of the mountain, pictured it, spun on the spot and dissapparated.

She appeared at the mountain top which was slightly snowy; the houses here were small log cabins, the montemites walked out with swords and different coloured dungarees (theirs were blues as the basimites' were red),

"Who you be?" one asked,

"Not this again." she said, "I'm Hermione, yes, Her-My-Nee, very amazing, I'm human and I'm from somewhere else which is very fascinating and I'm here to make peace between you and the basimites." said Hermione,

"No, no, no, WE want make peace but they no want to." said one of them,

"That's not true." said Hermione, "They want peace and some beatusberries."

"We no share beatusberries with them." said one,

"I request to speak with the chief." said Hermione, a more decorated montemites stepped out,

"Why you want to speak with me?" asked the chief,

"Because you both want peace." said Hermione,

"No, only us." said the chief,

"That's not true, just talk with there chief and see." she said, the montemites all huddled together and talked, the chief stepped out of the huddle and it disbanded,

"I talk with chief." he said,

"Thank you." said Hermione, she took his hand and dissapparated.

The two of them appeared at the foot of the mountain in the basimite village,

"You two, chief boys, talk." Hermione instructed, the two chiefs talked as instructed,

"Hello, Summo." said the basimite chief,

"Hello, Pedem." said the montemites chief,

"Please we have peace and beatusberries?' asked Pedem,

"We want peace, you do not." said Summo,

"We too want peace, we used to be friends." said Pedem,

"They be good past times." Summo agreed,

"Yes they be," said Pedem, they chatted for a while and started to go into native language but eventually began crying and hugging each other,

"We can build ski lift." cried Summo,

"We can make peace." said Pedem.

Hermione walked away from the village feeling good about herself, she had mended a war and found peace between two tribes. She left as the ski lift began construction so that the beatusberries could be shared. She put her foot at the roots of the tree, grabbed a branch and hauled herself up to sit on it, she maneuvered herself to stand up and grab and branch with her hands, she twisted around and climbed up the tree until she reached the leaves at the top and this time she actually climbed down and landed safely on the forest ground, still felling good.

Hermione walked on through the forest, she pulled her compass fro her beaded bag and followed the arrow to the tree. She eventually found the tree and walked through it. She put the compass back into her beaded bag and was back in the other forest that contained St, Mungo's college. She walked on through _that_ forest,

"Well done." she said to herself, she was becoming quite attached to that forest, it had become a special place to her, close to her heart, she thought that there was no harm in indulging within this exotic and amazingly magical place and planned upon doing it many times more in the foreseeable future.


	11. Chapter 11

**The Slave Trade**

Aisha walked into the S.P.E.W office with six cups of coffee, handed them out and sat at her desk, her, Hermione, Freddie, Breeana, Tatyana and Breeana were discussing their latest plan,

"Thanks," said Hermione, taking the coffee from Aisha,

"So there are really slave trade centres?" asked Breeana,

"I'm afraid so." said Tatyana,

"You'd think that this would be bigger news, you'd think that _someone_ would care." said Hermione,

"How do they live?" asked Aisha,

"Terribly." said Freddie.

"You've been to one?" asked Rupert,

"Yes." said Freddie, "Once,"

"What was it like?" asked Breeana,

"They were just auctioning these elves off to the highest bidder, they all looked so sad, so lonely, all they had was each other and they were losing each other one by one as the rich bought them." said Freddie,

"That's why we have to rescue them." said Hermione,

"Yes." said Tatyana,

"So what's the plan?" asked Aisha,

"Okay," said Hermione, "We go in and disperse; we go to a separate sale and pretend to be interested in buying elves, then., when the crowd picks up, we slip, unnoticed, into a hiding place, we wait until the salespeople have gone and we save the elves."

"Sounds good." said Aisha,

"Any questions?" asked Hermione,

"Yes," said Rupert,

"What is it?" Hermione asked him,

"What if they don't want to be rescued, they could apparate away if they want to but they haven't?" he asked,

"Well, Tatyana's checked the place out, Tatyana could you answer that question?" Hermione asked her,

"Of course," said Tatyana, "Around the center, there's a high, metal fence, theses fences have been charmed heavily so that no apparition, wizard or elf, can possibly be done within them."

"What are there other defences?" asked Breeana,

"Well, they have guards keeping surveillance twenty four seven to make sure that after closing hours and before opening hours, no-one gets in, they stand facing the outside of the gate so we should be able to sneak up behind them and knock them out when we free them." said Hermione,

"They're also stocked in dynamite." said Tatyana,

"Why?" asked Hermione,

"When I was there I had a brief chat with the owner, apparently it's a hobby, or mental problem of his to explode stuff, not the elves, un-alive things in secret, he has it kept there though." Tatyana explained,

"But they won't use it against us?" asked Rupert,

"No." said Tatyana,

"When do we move?" asked Freddie,

"Tomorrow afternoon," said Hermione, "Then we strike."

Hermione, Aisha, Breeana, Freddie, Rupert and Tatyana walked through a tall metal gate passed some guards; the gates guarded a square enclosure of tall metal fencing. Within this enclosure was a wide, brick building, the entrance to which was around the right corner, the six of them, followed the path, passed the motorbikes park around it and through the door to the house elf slave trade centre.

On the left of the cold, loveless building were men and women holding house elves on leashes, haggling with rich customers on the prices, on the right was the same. They stuck to the plan and dispersed among the centre, Hermione walked up to a booth with a witch behind it selling house elves, customers were holding handfuls of coins, and Hermione, trying not to be recognised with a headscarf and sunglasses, beat through the crowd to the front,

"Hello, like to make an offer?" asked the woman,

"Yes," said Hermione "Answers."

"To what?" asked the woman, confused, just looking at the house elves sent mixed emotions around Hermione, a bad concoction of sorrow, sadness, sympathy, pity, anger, hatred and rage.

"How do you sleep at night?" asked Hermione,

"In a bed," said the woman confused still,

"I mean knowing what you do every day, how do you sleep at night knowing that you are carting these defenceless creatures off like animals?" asked Hermione,

"With a wad of cash under my pillow." she said,

"You make me sick." said Hermione,

"Do you think I care, look missy, either buy an elf or get the hell out of my way, I've got customers to please." she said,

"Of course." said Hermione.

She made her way to a room in the back, she slipped in silently, she put her scarf and sunglasses into her beaded bag and looked up at the room full of beds, In these beds were house elves, they were either sleeping or to tired to move, a number of beds were empty, Hermione assumed that these belonged to that house elves that were out in the main center. Tears met her eyes and she walked into the adjacent room, this was filled with a bunch of empty crates, a man was standing behind them, he was a delivery man judging by his uniform,

"What are all of these?" asked Hermione,

"Well, they're the crates that the elves arrive in." said the man,

"They arrive in crates?" asked Hermione disgusted,

"Well yeah, we ship them over and sell the here." he said,

"That's awful." said Hermione,

"It's a living, what are you doing here anyway?" he asked,

"Oh, I was just…leaving." she said, walking away.

The hours went on by, not a sound was being made throughout the center, the owner was just locking up and leaving, the crate room was silent too, until a human leg kicked one open from the inside, Tatyana stood up and stepped out of the crate, this happened five more times with Hermione, Freddie, Breeana, Aisha and Rupert also kicking their crates open and standing.

"I think we found a good hiding place in the end." said Rupert, a house elf stood up next to him,

"Who's that?" asked Aisha, the elf was male, he had bat-like ears, large, sparkling, blue eyes and wore a pillowcase,

"This is Dalis." said Rupert,

"And why is he here?" asked Breeana,

"Oh, this is the elf I bought." said Rupert,

"Master is so kind." said Dalis,

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, kind, why did you buy an elf?" asked Hermione,

"Well who better to help us than someone who knows the ropes?" Rupert argued,

"I've been here before."| said Tatyana,

"Not just here." said Rupert,

"He's so cute." said Breeana,

"It would help having help around the office," said Hermione,

"You're kidding me." said Aisha,

"I'm alright with it." said Freddie,

"Dalis is happy to serve." he said,

"Well, you wouldn't be serving, you'd be getting paid." said Tatyana.

"Of course." said Hermione,

"Dalis accepts his masters demands for free." he said,

"We'll fix him later." said Rupert,

"Okay," said Hermione, "Let's get going."

They walked into the room full of beds,

"Get up, get up, get up!" yelled Hermione, the house elves awoke,

"What is this?" asked one of them,

"You're going free." said Tatyana,

"Yay." said one of them,

"But we mustn't leave." said another one,

"But, we've received a higher order to move you all." Freddie lied,

"Yes, we'll keep you safe, come with us." said Hermione, the elves did so and they led them into the main centre, the booths were closed and it was empty, they walked up to the door, "_Alohomora_." said Hermione on the door, it unlocked and Hermione opened it, "Stay here." she said, she walked out of the door and went around the corner, she saw the two guards at the gate, she stuck to the wall and aimed her wand at one of them, "_Petrificus Totalus_." she whispered and the guard went rigid and fell, the other guard went to help him and Hermione said, "_Petrificus Totalus_." and he tumbled onto the guard. She walked back into the center, "Come on, the coast is clear." said Hermione.

The five humans and the house elves left the centre and ran for the gate,

"_Alohomora._" said Aisha, but the locked did nothing,

"That won't work." said Tatyana,

"Maybe this will." said Hermione,

"What?" asked Tatyana,

"Clear it." said Hermione, she went and sat on one of the motorbikes and rammed the handle, the house elves moved back out of the way, Hermione drove the motorcycle right into the gate and it came off of it's hinges, she drove over it and skidded around, the house elves all ran out with the S.P.E.W office team,

"Come on then." said Rupert,

"I'm not coming," said Hermione, "Not yet."

"Why not?" asked Freddie,

"I have one last thing to do here first she said. She drove the motorcycle back within the gates and skidded around again, the house elves and humans had dissapparated.

Hermione walked into the centre and found another room, one filled with cardboard boxes; Hermione looked in them and saw that they were filled with sticks of dynamite,

"That's just lovely." she said to herself. She spent a while planting the dynamite throughout the slave trade centre and setting it up, she set up a trip wire outside in the front of the building and was all ready.

Hermione sat on the bike and turned her top half to look at the centre,

"This place is disgusting," she said as though giving a speech, "the whole idea of this is DISGUSTING," she yelled, "Well I'll tell you something, I'm saying _no_ to all of this and _this_ is my way of showing it." said Hermione.

She rammed the engine and turned around, she speeded the motorcycle and ran over the trip wire, and there it was: _bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang_. The explosion went off in rows, although her back was turned as she sped off, she knew that the explosion behind her was big and fiery, the heat reached her as she drove over the gate, she skidded around and Hermione saw the slave trade centre as the smoking pile of rubble that she had reduced it to. Hermione smiled, happy with herself and dissapparated leaving the bike with no driver.


	12. Chapter 12

**Cell Mate**

They had settled each of the house elves either at Hogwarts or to nice families that they personally interviewed, and then there was Dalis,

"So, how are we going to use him?" asked Aisha,

"Well, we're obviously going to pay him." said Hermione,

"Dalis will only serve his master." said Dalis,

"I order you to follow the orders of these five people as well as me." said Rupert,

"Then Dalis will do it sir." he said,

"Problem solved." said Rupert,

"Dalis," asked Tatyana, "Will you be paid?"

"Dalis works for free, he is here to serve his master and master's friends." said Dalis,

"What about clothes?" asked Breeana; Dalis looked almost scared by the notion,

"No, no, no, Dalis must not wear clothes, for that would mean he be free, and therefore pointless." said Dalis,

"What if we still paid you though?" asked Hermione, "That would mean we want you here despite the slave labour."

"We can buy him a nice new wand." said Aisha,

"That's true," said Freddie, "Since you abolished the wand law Hermione."

"House elves must not use wands." said Dalis,

"But it's legal." Hermioine argued,

"We can start with that." said Tatyana.

"I'll go wand shopping with him." said Breeana,

"I'll bring in some clothes for him tomorrow." said Hermione,

"I'll configure his salary." said Rupert,

"Okay, we can pack it in for a night, meet back here tomorrow?" said Tatyana,

"Agreed." said Hermione.

Hermione walked into the office the next day, she was earlier than the rest of them and sat down behind her desk, soon Tatyana walked in, then Freddie, t6hen Breeana, then Aisha and then Rupert with Dalis at his side,

"Did you get him a wand?" asked Hermione,

"Yes." said Breeana, "Ash, unicorn hair, eight and a quarter inches."

"Dalis has been practicing with his new wand." said Dalis, Hermione pulled a hat, a jumper and some socks that she had knitted the previous night, she handed them to Rupert who handed them to Dalis, she then pulled out the very small trousers and shoes that took her a while to find and handed them to Dalis, Dalis put them on,

"Well he didn't seem hesitant." Aisha observed,

"No he didn't." said Tatyana,

"Well, I convinced him of everything last night, took a while but I finally got through to him" said Rupert,

"Master is very kind." said Dalis,

"Oh yes, and here's your first installment." said Rupert, handing him a small handful of Galleons, Dalis took two and pocketed them but declined the rest,

"Too much." he said,

"There's still progress to be made." Rupert said,

"Never mind that," said Freddie, "Did any of you read the _Daily Prophet_ this morning?" Hermione and the other four of them shook their heads,

"Why, what happened?" asked Breeana,

"Someone blew up the slave trade centre the other night." said Freddie,

"Which night?" asked Tatyana.

"The same night that we were there." Freddie told them, Hermione tried hard to keep a straight face on,

"Oh my God." she said as to cover up the fact that she had blown it up,

"Yeah, it must have been after we had left," said Aisha,

"No, really, because I thought that it happened whilst we were there." said Rupert sarcastically,

"Shut up Rupert." said Freddie,

"Hermione," said Tatyana,

"Yes?" Hermione replied,

"You stayed later than the rest of us, did you see anything?" she asked,

"Um, no." Hermione lied,

"Must have been quite late then." said Rupert,

"Really, because I thought it happened during the day time." said Aisha retaliating for Ruperts earlier statement,

"And the media was shocked to see that no house elves were found in the wreckage." Freddie smiled.

"Well, it shoes that we did our job right." said Tatyana.

"What was the headline?" asked Breeana,

"'_Rubble Pile on Slave Trade Land_.'" Freddie said, turning the issue of the _Daily Prophet_ around showing them the headline and the photo of the pile of rubble that stood where the slave trade centre had once been,

"Well, whoever this person was, they're a friend of ours." said Tatyana,

"How did they blow it up, anyway?" asked Breeana,

"Tatyana, didn't you say that the boss kept dynamite?" asked Rupert,

"Yes." said Tatyana,

"The culprit must have used that." said Aisha,

"Yes," said Hermione, "Must have."

After the S.P.E.W office workers finally got settled down and started on paperwork, including Dalis who was happy to help, two men entered the office,

"We're here for Hermione Weasley." said one of them,

"Why?" asked Hermione,

"To arrest her." said the other man,

"On what charges?" asked Tatyana,

"Extreme vandalism and terrorism." said the first man,

"Well I made sure that no-one died." said Hermione; they all turned to her,

"Hermione," asked Freddie, "What did you do?"

"I may have, sort of, kind of…blew up the slave trade centre." said Hermione, their jaws dropped,

"Are you going to come quietly or do we have to take you by force?" asked one of the men,

"I'll come quietly." said Hermione, getting up from behind her desk,

"Ah, I like it when they struggle." said the first man, Hermione walked up to the and the dragged her away by her shoulders,

"I'd like a lawyer." she called to the S.P.E.W office workers as they saw her get arrested, they grabbed an oil lamp at the end of the hall and suddenly they had transported, it had been a port key.

"Wait a second." said Hermione, recognizing her surroundings, "This is Azkaban prison, don't I get a trial or a chance to defend myself?" asked Hermione,

"We have three witnesses that say they saw you driving away from the explosion on a motorcycle." said the first man,

'Fair enough," said Hermione, "Do I at least get a trip to the holding cells?" asked Hermione,

"Since the holding cell prisoners got released a few months ago they have been deemed unstable." said the other man,

"Damn myself, I couldn't have just let Vineeta get away." she muttered to herself, they opened a cell and she walked in to it, backwards,

"We'll get back to you with the hearing date." said the first man as the two of them walked away.

"Well, well, well, what've they got you in here for mudblood?" Hermione recognised the voice and turned around to see Katrina Walker,

"If it's any of your business, which is isn't, I blew up a slave trade centre." said Hermione,

"Wow, mudblood, I didn't know that you had it in you." said Katrina,

"I can't believe that they stuck me in here with you, you've tried to kill me at least four times." said Hermione,

"Oh, us and our happy memories." said Katrina sarcastically,

"Well, whatever," said Hermione, "I hope that you've been rotting in here." said Hermione, from the looks of her she had, she looked as she had when Hermione had found her homeless a year previously, tangled hair and an unmade face, she was wearing a dirty prison uniform, a robe of black and grey stripes,

"As a matter of fact I have, but because it's dirty, but because I can't be with my Clemmy." said Katrina longingly, she was referring to Clement Hodge, a man who had kept and tortured house elves illegally and nearly ran married Katrina when the two of them ran off to Vegas together,

"You mean that old git who stole house elves and put shock collars around their necks?{' said Hermione,

"Yes, I do like a man with a good sense of humour." said Katrina,

"I hate you so much, house elves are living breathing creatures with intelligence and they deserve a say in this world." said Hermione,

"Well, yes, they're very intelligent when it comes to scrubbing the floors." said Katrina,

"If you could scrub yourself then maybe you wouldn't be the filthy mongrel you are." said Hermione,

"Uh, you're such a bitch." said Katrina,

"I love you too." said Hermione sarcastically,

"Do you want to go over more chat or should we just get straight into it?" asked Katrina,

"I'm ready to go now." said Hermione, she jumped on top of Katrina and started beating her with her fists, Katrina grabbed Hermione's hair and started pulling it, she used this leverage to become on top of Hermione, Hermione slapped her around the face and she lost grip, Katrina stood up but Hermione grabbed her ankle and pulled, she fell backwards and smacked her head on the hard, stone wall, she spun her legs up and attempted to kick Hermione in the head but Hermione grabbed them and twisted them in an awkward position, Katrina sat up and punched Hermione in the face, Hermione fell backwards and Katrina quickly jumped onto her and started to strangle her, Hermione's legs flailed and Katrina increased the pressure on her neck, Hermione lifted her legs up and Kicked Katrina in her already wounded head, Katrina fell and Hermione smacked her face, the two of them sat up next to each other, now calm,

"I just love it when we exchange pleasantries." said Katrina,

"Yes," said Hermione, "It's our thing."

After a few hours of sitting in silence Kingsley appeared outside of the bars,

"Yes, that's her, release her," he said, a man with keys unlocked the cell and Hermione got up,

"You're free to go." said the man, Hermione stepped out of the cell and Katrina stayed where she was, the cell was shut behind her and Hermione hugged Kingsley,

"How did you get them to release me?" asked Hermione,

'I simply explained that the explosion was a Ministry induced decision and that no-one was harmed and they decided that you should go free." said Kingsley, "I was absolutely horrified when I heard what had happened."

"Well thanks." said Hermione and the two of them grabbed the port key and returned to the Ministry.

Hermione walked back into her office with her five employees staring at her,

"Sorry about the hold up." she said, sitting at her desk with Tatyana, Aisha, Rupert, Freddie and Breeana all staring at her still, looking quizzical.

"No problem." said Freddie, confused,

"Hope there was nothing too difficult." said Breeana,

"No," said Hermione, "I caught up with an old friend."


	13. Chapter 13

**Trick or Treat?**

The end of October neared and with it, Halloween. All of the charges for Hermione blowing up the house elf slave trade centre had been dropped thanks to Kingsley and the heat had been taken off, however the members of the S.P.E.W office still had questions,

"You blew up a building." said Aisha,

"You placed dynamite in a building." said Freddie,

"Yes." said Hermione, "Feel free to start judging me." she said,

"That is so cool." said Rupert,

"I know but…wait, what?" asked Hermione,

"You blew up that evil, evil place." said Breeana,

"It had to be destroyed, otherwise they would have just shipped in more and more house elves." said Tatyana,

"You think?" asked Hermione,

"It was totally respectable." said Freddie,

"Thanks." she said,

"Maybe we should plan our next attack." suggested Rupert,

"No," said Tatyana, "That was the only slave trade centre in England and our jurisdiction is only valuable here."

"What about in Scotland and Wales?" asked Freddie,

"I don't know." said Tatyana,

"No, this is the last time that we blow a place up." said Hermione,

"Sounds fair enough." said Aisha,

"Yeah it does." said Breeana,

"But that doesn't mean that we can't perform other acts of vandalism." said Rupert,

"No vandalism." said Hermione, "This was a one off."

"Ah," said Freddie, "I wanted to blow something up."

"No blowing stuff up." said Hermione sternly,

"Fine." he said sadly,

"So," asked Hermione, "Any more questions on the matter?" they shook their heads.

"No," said Tatyana,

'Nothing." said Freddie,

"Nothing at all." said Rupert,

"Except one thing." said Aisha,

"What's that asked Hermione,

"Yeah, what is that?" asked Breeana,

"It was pretty awesome." she said,

"Well that's true." said Rupert,

"Thanks guys." Hermione said.

Hermione walked into her house a couple days later, it was in the evening, she had just finished work, it was also Halloween night.

"Honey, I'm home." she said to Ron,

"Aren't I meant to say that?" asked Ron, coming out from the living room,

"Ah well, it's a but cliché anyway." said Hermione,

"Yeah, I suppose." said Ron, he kissed her and the two went into the living room together,

"We still on for tonight?" she asked,

"Yep." said Ron, they had made plans with Harry and Ginny to go to a muggle night club for Halloween, and just to make it ironic, they were going to be dressed as witches and wizards, "Harry and Ginny are still up for it." he said,

"Good." said Hermione, "I'll just go and get into my costume." she said, she kissed him again and went upstairs.

When Hermione walked down the stairs she was wearing a black corset with a pink dress underneath, each of which had layers of rough, spiky netting over them, she was also wearing a black, pointed hat, large, black boots, stripy, black and white stockings and her usual beaded bag around her. Ron came out of the living room wearing a long black robe with a hood and a piece of rope as the belt,

"Looking good." she said, approaching the base of the staircase,

"I could say the same of you." said Ron,

"Thanks, you like?" she asked, spinning around, letting him see the full costume,

"I do." he said, he kissed her again and there was a knock at the door, Hermione opened it to Harry and Ginny, Ginny was wearing a long, extravagant, royal, pink dress with a large crown and a wand with a star at the end and Harry was wearing a dark blue robe with silver moons and stars all over it and a matching, tall, pointed hat.

"You guys ready to go?" asked Harry,

"Yep." said Ron, the four of them walked out of the door and dissapparated.

They appeared in an alley way where no-one would able to see them apparate and walked out of it, they came out at the queue of a nightclub in a muggle town, all of the people were dressed in Halloween costumes, everywhere Hermione looked she saw devils, black cats, zombies, mummies, television characters and more, they could here the beats coming from the inside of the club.

"This place looks alright." said Ron,

"Yeah." said Ginny,

"I've never been to a night club before." said Harry,

"Me neither." said Ron, "Any of you?" he asked,

"Yeah, we've been to one." said Hermione,

"When?" asked Harry,

"At Hermione's hen night." said Ginny,

"Hopefully this won't end up like two Halloweens ago." said Harry, laughing,

"Shut up." said Ginny,

"Does he know?" asked Hermione,

"Yeah," said Ron, "I told him,"

"And it's hilarious.' said Harry, he was referring to the time that Hermione and Ginny had kissed at the Hogwarts Halloween dance two years previously due to Ginny being spiked with a love potion,

"Ha ha," said Hermione sarcastically, "Now can we shut up about it please and focus on _this_ Halloween?"

"Fine." laughed Ron,

"Yes, please can we?" asked Ginny,

"Okay, okay." said Harry; they both got out the last of their giggles.

When they got up to the front of the line, they were let in by the bouncer and entered the club, it seemed good enough, music playing, crowds of people in costumes dancing randomly and Hermione, Ginny, Harry and Ron joined in with them. They all danced together crazily and laughed whilst doing it,

"I'm going top go and get a drink.' said Hermione,

"Okay, see you in a second." said Ron. Hermione walked through the crowd and made it to the bar, she ordered a martini and stood waiting for her drink,

"Hello there." said the man, about her age, dressed as a vampire, walking up to her, "So, you're a witch, huh?" he asked,

"Um, yes." said Hermione, "Why?"

"Well, would you like to see my magic wand?" he asked,

"Yeah," she said, "I should have mentioned, I'm a married witch." she held up her left hand revealing her wedding and engagement rings,

"What's your point, I have a girlfriend, they don't have to know." he said, he leaned in to kiss her so she slapped him around the face, "What the hell?" he said,

"I should have mentioned, in addition to being a witch and being married, I have one hell of a bitch slap." she said, she walked back through the crowd after throwing her drink in his face, she returned to dancing with Ron.

After a while of dancing, Hermione made her way back through the dancing crowd and to the ladies toilets. She went into a cubicle and when she came out she saw a girl fixing her make up in front of the mirror. She turned around,

"Oh my God, it's you isn't it?" she asked,

"Depends on who you think I am." said Hermione,

"How dare you even show your face in front of me you slag.' she said,

"What?" asked Hermione before receiving a punch in the face from this girl,

"You were chatting up my boyfriend." she said before punching her again,

"What, no, he was chatting me up, I declined, I'm married." she said, showing her the rings on her finger,

"So now you're an adultery as well as a slag, you whore." she said, she punched her again so Hermione thought that she should defend herself, she punched the girl in the face, again and again, the girl then punched her in the stomach, Hermione knelt and the girl's knee whacked her up the chin, she fell down and the girl; kicked her repeatedly in the stomach,

"Hey, what's taking you so long in here?" asked Ginny, she saw the sight of Hermione being attacked and simply said, "I'm about to go good witch on your arse." She threw her wand and one of the points of the star cut her cheek,

"How dare you?" asked the girl,

"Quite easily actually." Ginny leapt in and punched the girl in the face, the girl pushed Ginny over but she dragged the girl down with her, she wrapped her thighs around her head and spun the two of them around, she was now on top of the girl and punched in the face some more until she passed out on the bathroom floor.

"You okay?" she asked Hermione and got up, Hermione coughed deeply and stood up, her stomach in pain,

"Yes," she said, "I'm fine,

"Okay." said Ginny,

"Where did that come from?" asked Hermione,

"What?" asked Ginny,

"That fight you just had?" asked Hermione,

"Oh that?" said Ginny, bending down to pick up her wand and standing back up again,

"Yes that." said Hermione, "It was amazing." said Hermione,

"Oh," said Ginny, "Thanks." she walked out of the bathroom and so did Hermione, the girl on the floor writhing slightly and opening her eyes.

Hours later they were all walking home; they looked at the moon and the stars and talked,

"Did you have fun?" asked Harry,

"Yeah." said Ginny,

"It was amazing." said Hermione,

"I enjoyed it." said Ron, they made it to the alley and Harry apparated the four of them except that Hermione didn't grab on in time and they dissapparated without her, she looked up at the moon and swore that she saw the silhouette of a witch on a broomstick flying passed it and when Hermione listened, she swore that she heard a cackle, she looked at the alley and then back at the moon and the witch had gone. She dissapparated back to her house in shock.


	14. Chapter 14

**Mystery Man**

"I'm telling you, there was a witch, big as you like, on a broom, cackling away." Hermione was telling Ron the following morning in their living room,

"What you're describing sounds more like from a fairy tale." said Ron,

"Fine, a hag then, a hag flying in front of the moon." said Hermione,

"It could have been someone in a costume." said Ron,

"Oh yeah, because all muggles have flying brooms." she said sarcastically,

"Well, I'm sorry." said Ron, "It was Halloween, it could have just been a decoration." he said,

"Then explain the cackle." said Hermione,

"Your imagination running wild." suggested Ron,

"No, no, it was real, I swear." said Hermione, "I was right about the forest." she argued,

"Yes, you were, but if this was a witch giving herself away in the muggle suburbs she'll just be arrested." Ron argued,

"You didn't see it." said Hermione, "It wads like she was trying to intimidate me, you know, I felt a wave of fear run down me and I dissapparated as fast as possible."

"Like I said, your imagination's running wild.' said Ron,

"Yes," said Hermione, "That's probably it, just a trick of the light." she conceded,

"Yeah." he comforted her and put his arm around her, "Speaking of the forest, have you been back there?" he asked,

"Um, a few times, why?" she asked back,

"I don't know, I just don't think that you should be going to that place." he said,

"It isn't a bad place." she said, "It's one of the happiest, best places that I've ever been to." said Hermione,

"Fine, fine, that was just my opinion." he said,

"I know, but I love that place, it's a real comfort." she said,

"Okay, fine, then you continue to go, I'm just letting you know how I feel." he said,

"Thanks." she said, kissing him.

Hermione walked into work later that day to find that Tatyana, Aisha, Rupert, Dalis, Freddie and Breeana were all already there,

"Hello all, I trust that you all had a good Halloween." said Hermione,

"Yeah, it was good, I went round and pulled off some great pranks." said Rupert, "Dalis was a great help."

"Master is very skilled in the art of prankstership." said Dalis, the rest of them rolled their eyes,

"Well, I had fun, I dressed as a fairy and took my some of the house elves trick or treating in Hogsmeade." said Breeana, "They had so much fun dressing up." she added,

"That sounds nice." said Hermione,

"It was." said Breeana,

"Well, I don't celebrate Halloween." said Freddie,

"What? Why not?" asked Aisha,

"Well, I always lost track of time in the desert, I haven't celebrated a holiday in years." he explained,

"And you Aisha?" asked Tatyana,

"I went to a party and won the limbo competition, which, believe me, was not easy when you're wearing a pumpkin costume." she said,

"What about you Tatyana?" asked Hermione,

"I had some work to do." she said,

"I though that I gave you all the night off." said Hermione,

"Yeah," said Tatyana, "But I really wanted to finish some files that I had started." she said,

"Fair enough." said Hermione,

"And what did you do, Hermione?" asked Rupert,

"Me? Oh, well, I went to a night club dressed as a witch, thought I'd be ironic." she said,

"Okay." he replied,

"So we all had fun then?" asked Hermione, all five of them nodded,

"Dalis enjoys Halloween." said Dalis,

"He does." said Rupert,

"Well, good for him." said Hermione.

After scribbling some paperwork, a man entered her office,

"What is it?" asked Hermione,

"I have a request from Azkaban prison." he said,

"What has she done now?" asked Tatyana,

"Not again." said Hermione,

"No, no, you're not being arrested, a prisoner requested a meet with you." said the man, "Do you wish to accept?"

"Depends," said Hermione, "Who is it?" she asked,

"Wallace Grammar." said the man, Hermione recognised the name instantly,

"The creep who attacked Ginny?" said Hermione,

"If you're talking about Ginny Weasley, then yes." said the man,

"You know what," said Hermione, angrily, "Tell him I'll be there."

The next day, Hermione walked into the visitors room of Azkaban prison, it was a lot like a muggle visitors section, the where kept behind glass, Hermione sat down opposite Grammar and picked up the primitive phone, he picked up his,

"I'm surprised that you came." he said, he looked a lot dirtier than when Hermione had last seen him, he was more miserable than sparkly eyed,

"I was curious as to what you wanted." said Hermione,

"I want your help." he said,

"My help? After you stab one of my best friends?" she asked,

"I didn't stab that girl, I was framed." he said,

"Tell me why I should believe you." said Hermione,

"You shouldn't, you'll just have to trust me." he said,

"Well, I don't," she replied, "But I do want to know what you have to say for yourself."

"Look, they only convicted me because I have a violent past, and when you turned me down for that job, it brought back some of those feelings." he said,

"They also convicted you because people saw you running from the scene with a knife covered in Ginny's blood." said Hermione,

"I told you, I was framed." he said, "I was walking home, minding my own business, when I see this guy with a knife come up to me, the rest is a little fuzzy but the next thing I knew,_ I_ was holding the knife and running with it."

"So what, you were hypnotized?" asked Hermione with doubt in her voice,

"I think so." he said,

"Did you look at this so called criminal?" asked Hermione,

"No, he had his hood up, I couldn't see his face." said Grammar,

"If that were true then his finger prints would have been on the knife, and they weren't." said Hermione,

"That's because he was wearing gloves." said Grammar, "I wasn't so the only finger prints on the weapon were my own."

"Listen," said Hermione, "The only reason that I came here was to make sure that you're rotting in this hellhole, and by the looks of your face, you are." said Hermione, she put the phone back and stood up, she turned around,

"Wait! Wait!" she heard Grammar's muffled cries, she ignored them and walked away.

She was very sure that all Grammar had told her was a lie, it all seemed a bit too convenient, yes, who would run into a crowded area with a murder weapon but Hermione didn't know what went through the mind of a murderer, well, attempted murderer, she walked into the S.P.E.W office and sat at her desk,

"How did it go?" asked Freddie,

"He's a liar as well as an attempted murderer." said Hermione,

"Not attempted." said Aisha, "succeeded." she said,

"What do you mean, Ginny's still alive." said Hermione,

"Yeah," said Breeana, "She was the lucky one,"

"The lucky one?" asked Hermione,

"Yeah, it was in the paper, apparently, loads of girls in the past have died in the exact same way, a deep knife wound to the left shoulder, it dates back years." said Rupert, Tatyana looked uncomfortable at this,

"Why wasn't this bigger news?" asked Hermione,

"Because it was a closed case, all of them, they never found out who did it and they didn't want to scare the public, but now that they caught the guy, the news is out." said Freddie,

"So he wasn't just convicted for the attack on Ginny?" asked Hermione,

"Nope." said Breeana,

"Well, how many other girls were there?" asked Hermione,

"Well," said Aisha, "They were all young women, about seventeen to twenty three, in seven years there have been nine attacks, and, if you count your friend, ten."

"I don't think that we need to get all into it." said Tatyana,

"Why?' asked Rupert, "Are you scared?"

"No." she said, "I just don't like to hear about it, that's all." said Tatyana,

"He's locked up now, no need to be scared." said Breeana comfortingly,

"I'm not scared!" said Tatyana,

"Alright, alright, you're not scared." said Freddie,

"No," she said, "I'm not."

They continued on with their work for the day and the time came for the seven of them (including Dalis) to go home, call it a night. Hermione took the lift up to the main floor of the Ministry, she walked on over to a fireplace and went up it, she appeared above of a toilet and she stepped out of the cubicle and up the steps to the town. She walked along, looking for a safe place to dissapparate from without people looking, tonight looked busy, and she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched. She found a dark alley and walked through it until she was in the shadow, she thought that she saw the silhouette of a man coming towards her, her heart raced and she dissapparated as quickly as possible.

She appeared in front of her home, her heart rate now decreasing, she decided that it had been a trick of the shadows and walked on in to her house. She sat on the sofa and waited for Ron to get home, still slightly freaked out, she heard keys in the door and went to the hall, Ron entered the house and Hermione hugged him,

"What's that for?" he asked,

"Nothing," she said, "Just protect me."

"Of course," he said, hugging her back


	15. Chapter 15

**Horse in the Snow**

The remainder of November had gone by in a flash, before Hermione knew it, advent had already begun, this caused excitement with Ron as he was daily aloud to eat a small chocolate, but Hermione was not that fussed, one December day, she decided to go to the forest. She stood in the forest that contained St. Mungo's college next to the tree with the carving of: _Patriam__Omnium__Magica _on it. She walked through the tree and she was in the forest, it looked completely different to how she had left it behind, for one thing, it was colder, but Hermione had prepared for this with a coat, scarf and earmuffs, but it was also covered in a thick layer of pure white snow. Everything now looked twice as beautiful as before, the snow did this forest many favours. Hermione walked in it, it made a nice _crunch_ every time she took a step and she looked behind her to see a trail of footprints that she had left.

She continued to walk through the snow-covered forest, she saw that the ocean side had frozen over, it looked beautiful too, she saw a basimite and a montemites, a couple, ice skating together, she watched and awed at them, she assumed that they were on a date and she left them be. She had never quite figured out just what they were, they looked nothing like anything that she had read about, she thought that this forest was clearly undiscovered by other people which meant that any odd creatures were explained by the fact that no-one would have written about them in any sort of published works.

She still continued further until she came across a section of nothing but amazing, snow-covered pine trees, each of them were decorated with baubles, tinsel and decorations and they all had either a star or an angel on the top, Hermione was in awe of it all,

"Beautiful, isn't it?" asked a floating cloud of multi-coloured smoke, it then spiraled into a woman flowing colour,

"Yes." Hermione replied,

"This forest id high evolved, you see, nobody decorated these trees, they're naturally occurring Christmas trees." said Dantissa,

"Really," said Hermione, "That's pretty amazing." she said, she walked amongst the trees and Dantissa followed her,

"I believe so, though I find it a little insulting to other cultures." she said,

"I suppose." said Hermione,

"You returned so soon?" said Dantissa,

"It's been a week, that's not so short a time you know." said Hermione,

"Oh, Hermione, I am a remarkable being, I have lived for hundreds of years, a long period of time for you is a mere minute in my life in comparison." she said,

"Well, I guess that's something good about my species then, every moment counts." she said,

"I had never looked at it from that perspective, I shall take it into consideration." said Dantissa,

"You should." said Hermione, weaving through the trees, still in awe of them,

"I am still curious as to why you keep returning." said Dantissa, "You already have the memory of it, can you not just think back?"

"I want to make more memories." said Hermione,

"Exactly, because, you see, memories is what we all come down to in the end, our lives, our souls, they're mere memories upon the Earth, so, why, if as you say, every moment counts, do you not make new memories full of new experiences instead of returning to the same place over and over?" asked Dantissa,

"Why doi you stay here?" asked Hermione,

"This is my home." Dantissa answered,

"Okay, fair enough, but why do you persist to talk to me when I _do_ return if you already have the memory of our conversations?" asked Hermione,

"Ah," said Dantissa, "Using my own logic against me, a low form of verbal defence."

"I come here to enjoy it, each time that I return I have a new experience, there's so much to explore." said Hermione,

"I suppose there is." said Dantissa, "However, compared to the rest of the Earth, this is a spec of dust."

"I don't believe that anyone, place, or thing is worth more than another." said Hermione,

"Oh, but you do Hermione, you may not know it but it's there, every time you see someone doing something obscene and you judge them, every time that you are disgusted by an item or are bored by a location, you less it in it's worth." said Dantissa, "Tell me, does that fit in with your ethics?"

"Whether or not that's true, does that not mean that you do it as well?" asked Hermione,

"Oh yes, definitely." she said, she turned to a multi-coloured cloud of smoke and whizzed out of sight.

Hermione ignored this interaction and continued to explore the trees, she was fascinated by the evolution of naturally occurring Christmas trees and couldn't help but be impressed by them. At the end of a hall of trees, Hermione saw something moving at the end, she couldn't see it properly though, she walked closer and closer, the closer she became the clearer it looked. She soon realised that it was a horse, a pure white horse that blended perfectly in with the snow,

"Wow, who are you then?" Hermione asked it, not expecting an answer and not receiving one, the horse was friendly and turned to Hermione, she pet it, stroked it's snout and noticed the two, large, dove-like, white wings upon it's back, "Oh, you're a flying horse." she said, it neighed happily and gestured it's back with it's head. "Um, okay then." said Hermione, she stood at his side and he lowered down, she sat on his back and he stood up fully again, she made sure that she was secure on him and that she wouldn't be falling off and the horse moved. It trotted down the hallway of trees, the trot became a canter, the canter became a gallop and the gallop became faster, at the end of the hallway of trees he spread his wings. They took of, becoming higher in the sky; Hermione noticed just how impressive his wing span was and looked down. She saw the forest in all of its glory. It looked amazing, they flew over the snow-covered trees of all kind, they flew over the frozen ocean and they flew over the inhabited mountain and Hermione noticed that the ski lift was up and running as she saw basimites and montemites go up and down in it.

They soared across they blue, cloudy sky, they flew through a few clouds and it was like Hermione was being hugged by a marshmallow. and then it began it snow, a flake landed upon her nose, she blew it off and looked up and saw that the snow was immensely heavy, making the forest more beautiful, it was amazing to see snow fall from above, the horse flew above the clouds and then below them again, its legs moved as though it were galloping across the sky, snow fell upon Hermione's head and hair and she laughed, she used to hate flying but this was different, she was in the forest, her forest and she felt completely safe there.

She noticed the horse begin to lose height and then soar down wards, it went down at great speed, Hermione screamed the whole time and then pulled up at the bottom and she exhaled heavily, it landed in the snow and lowered itself again. Hermione got off and saw that she was surrounded by many other pure white horses,

"Aw, you got yourself some mates." she said, they neighed happily and Hermione walked amongst them, around them were more self-decorated pine trees and Hermione smiled a great smile.

She walked on from the herd, following the compass through the snow; she enjoyed being there, treading upon the fresh snow, more falling upon her. She walked in the direction of the arrow; she came out of the pine trees and into different types of tree, all of which were snow-covered. She enjoyed her surroundings and was in no rush to leave them.

Hermione found herself faced with the woven-leaf wall, it was covered in snow, she climbed the tree and back down again, this time carefully, she slipped the compass into her pocket. She walked into the toadstool town, they were also snow-covered and they had put up a town Christmas tree, beautifully decorated,

"Her-My-Nee!" they all said in unison,

"Hi, guys, you getting ready for Christmas?" she asked,

"Yay, Christmas!" they all said,

"Have you all been making peace?" she asked, they gestured the ski lift and the mix of red and blue dungarees, "Good for you guys." she said, "Well I came to wish you all a merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas!" they cried, they passed presents to each other and placed them over the tree, she noticed that their toadstool houses were puffing smoke,

"The school has made you a present." said the basimite chief, the smaller of them handed her a large card,

"Thanks peacemaker." they said, Hermione took the card and saw that it was covered in a lot of glitter that spelled out _For Our Peacemaker_; Hermione was touched and opened it, it was filled with loving messages from the basimites and montemites, she was further touched,

"Oh, well, I didn't get you anything." she said,

"You brought peace between our species; you owe us nothing." said the montemites chief, "Particularly in these dark times,

"Dark times? What?" asked Hermione she was dismissed and the basimite chief said,

"The school basimites have also prepared a carol with the montemites."

"Oh, well, I'll love to hear it." said Hermione, the children got together, they were quite adorable, as were all of them, they began to sing a carol and Hermione was happy with what she saw and the basimites and montemites looked proud, when the song ended, everyone clapped and Hermione joined them.

She noticed the two that she had seen ice skating on a date return to the village and go inside, she looked through the window and saw that they were having a candle-lit dinner.

"We've been rooting for those two." said a basimite,

"So good together." said a montemites,

"Yes, I agree." said Hermione, "Well, bye." she said,

"Goodbye Her-My-Nee." they all said in unison,

"Thanks for the card." she said, waving, they waved back and said,

"You're welcome." she put the card in her beaded bag and tackled the tree, she climbed up it, finding roots, ledges, holes and branches wherever she could, she got to the top and climbed down. She walked on the roots at the bottom of the tree and followed the compass.

She continued through the crisp, white snow and found the tree with the carving of _Cum__Redeo__Domum__Meam_ and walked through it to the other forest, richer for the experience.


	16. Chapter 16

**Back For Christmas**

Like the forest, England had got a lot colder, however, unlike the forest; it hadn't shown a single sign of snow, typical. Christmas was getting closer and closer and Hermione was excited for it, she went to her living room where an owl flew through the window, Hermione took the envelope from its leg, gave it a Knut, it flew back out the window, Hermione opened it with the letter opener in the kitchen, pulled out the sheet of parchment and read it:

_Dear Hermione & Ron,_

_ I have written this to inform you that I shall be returning to England to spend Christmas with you, I've nearly completed my travels and therefore my book, I can't wait to share my new experiences with you nor can I wait to see you. Hope that you're all enjoying yourselves, miss you much,_

_Love from,_

_ Luna._

Hermione was excited by the letter, she always enjoyed hearing about Luna's travels, she pocketed the letter and Ron walked through the front door,

"Hey honey." she said,

"Hello." he replied,

"I just got a letter from Luna, she's coming back for Christmas." said Hermione,

"Oh that's good, speaking of which, about Christmas, I had a thought." he said,

"Which is?" asked Hermione,

"One second." he said, he hung up is coat and they walked into the living room to sit on the sofa together,

"So, what was the thought?" asked Hermione,

"Not a thought, more news." he said,

"What?" asked Hermione,

"Well, you know how we're supposed to be spending Christmas at my parents' house this year?" asked Ron,

"Yes, it's their turn." said Hermione,

"Yeah, well," he said, "We're not doing that."

"Then what are we doing?" asked Hermione,

"Well, since Harry and Ginny got their house, they want to host Christmas this year." said Ron, "We'll be there for Christmas morning along with them, Neville and Luna, and then the rest of the family will come later in the day, Mum's bringing the turkey." he said,

"Oh, that's good, that way we can share a room and Luna can come along too, right?" she asked,

"Yeah, I'm assuming so, she's a good friend of Harry and Ginny's." said Ron

"Great then," said Hermione, "Then it's all sorted." she said,

"We'll go down in the evening on Christmas Eve." said Ron,

"Okay." said Hermione.

A few days later, on Christmas Eve, Hermione heard a bell ring in the distance, she got out of bed and stepped out onto her balcony to see the blonde girl flying towards her on the pink bicycle, Newt the dog sticking his head out of the basket. Hermione waved to Luna and Luna waved pack, losing altitude and pedaling away. She came in for the landing and Hermione went downstairs to open the door to her, she greeted her and invited her in,

"Hello, you have a nice trip?" asked Hermione,

"Yes, I did as a matter of fact." said Luna's dreamy voice,

"Well, come in, come in." said Hermione, she closed the door behind Luna, Newt ran in to join Leontes and the two of them chased Crookshanks together, Hermione and Luna went into the living room together, they sat in opposite armchairs to each other,

"Are you enjoying the festivities, I just love Christmas." said Luna,

"Well, we're spending it at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place." said Hermione,

'Oh, okay." said Luna,

"So, what country did you just come from?" asked Hermione,

"The North Pole," said Luna, "A lovely place, I saved a baby polar bear from a collapsing ice cliff and the mother gave me a ride to this wizard, red robes, very jolly, had a lot of house elves but he treated them all well, He gave me a ride on his enchanted reindeer." said Luna,

"Right…" said Hermione,

"Then I realised the time and thought that I should be off, apparently he has a big work load to get ready for tonight so I timed it well." said Luna, Hermione ignored this and assumed that it was a mere coincidence,

"Have you discovered the crumple horned snorkack yet?" asked Hermione doubtfully,

"No, as it happens, I think that make take years, they probably won't be in the book." said Luna,

"How sad." said Hermione, "Well, I'm sure that one's out there."

"Yeah." said Luna, sighing,

"So, have you had any good experiences?" asked Hermione,

"Yes, as it goes," said Luna, "Since I returned the last time I've been crazy about helping S.P.E.W globally, so I had a dinner with the Chinese Minister for Magic, I talked to him about S.P.E.W, apparently he's met you before," Hermione nodded, she had had dinner with him months previously as he too had been robbed by Vineeta, "And he seemed very interested, so now china has passed a law saying that they must not be abused, abandoned and must be paid a small, bi-monthly fee."

"Bi-monthly, is that twice a month or every other month?" asked Hermione,

"Every other month," said Luna, "He thought that twice a month was a little eccentric for them."

"Right…" said Hermione.

That evening the three of them (Hermione, Ron and Luna) apparated down to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place to spend Christmas with Harry and Ginny, they knocked on the door and it was opened by Ginny,

"Ah, there you are, we were beginning to think that you weren't coming, what's the surprise you're bringing?" asked Ginny, Hermione stepped out of the way to reveal Luna wheeling her bicycle up to the house with Newt, "Luna!" yelled Ginny, she ran out and hugged her,

"I've missed you guys." said Luna,

"Oh, and we've missed you." said Ginny, "Oh, and guess what?" asked Ginny,

"What?" asked Hermione and Luna in unison,

"We have some extra guests, Demelza and Mitchell said that they could make it." she said,

"Oh that's great." said Hermione,

"Oh, I haven't seen Demmy since the wedding." said Luna, "That's great,"

"Well come on in then, we're freezing our arses off out here." said Ron, the four of them went inside the house and made their way to the living room. They had a nicely decorated tree and house in general, Harry, Neville and Hannah were chatting together,

"Hey guys." said Luna,

"Oh, hey." said Harry happily,

"Yeah hey." said Neville slightly less enthusiastically, they spent the evening happy, catching up and drinking eggnog and that night, Hermione and Ron slept in one of the guest rooms.

Hermione awoke the next morning to Ron saying,

"Get up, get up, get up, get up…" repeatedly,

"Yes, I'm up, now _shut_ up." said Hermione, standing up out of bed, they went down to the living room, they met Harry and Ginny on the way, then Neville and Hannah, the Luna and then Demelza and Mitchell who had arrived late the previous night, they crept past the portrait of Sirius's mother who they had muted and deafened the previous year and they went into the living room and a load of presents were left under the tree.

All nine pf them ran at the tree to retrieve their presents and then found a spot, each, in the living room to open them all. Hermione got a collection of six snow globes, one for each continent, one was for Europe and had the city of Paris in it with the Eiffel Tower, one was for Africa and had the pyramids and the sphinx inside it, one was for Asia and had the Great Wall of China in it, one was for Australasia and had the city of Sydney in it, one was for America and had the city of New York with the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building in it and one as for Antarctica and had a load of penguins on ice and in ocean.

"Thanks Luna." she said,

"You're welcome." said Luna, from Harry and Ginny she received a shoe box with a new pair of expensive high-heel shoes in it. From Demelza and Mitchell she received a Quidditch handbook: _1001 things that every Quidditch fan should know_, there was an ongoing joke about how Hermione's Quidditch knowledge was absolutely dreadful. She got a new work outfit from Neville and Hannah; she got an 'H' jumper and some mince pies from Mrs. Weasley and some jewellery from her parents in a fancy jewellery box. She got another Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes variety pack from George and Angelina and from Ron a load of Honeydukes sweets and a beautiful photo frame with a picture of the two of them on their wedding day. Hermione, Ginny, Luna and Demelza also got sent some Wiz Kidz items from Danielle.

Later in the day, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley arrived along with Bill, Fleur; baby Victoire, Percy, his wife Audrey, George and Angelina who would all be spending Christmas in Harry and Ginny's house. Mrs. Weasley, straight away, started on the turkey and the rest of the Christmas dinner which no-one was complaining about as she was the best cook that any of them knew.

They ate Christmas dinner when it was ready and it was truly luxurious, they pulled their crackers, wore their paper crowns and told the awful cracker jokes.

"What did you do for Christmas last year, Luna?" asked Hermione,

"Oh, well I celebrated Kwanza in Africa, a fascinating holiday, lots of corn." she said,

"Oh, well that's great." said Demelza,

"It was actually." she said.

Later on, all eighteen of them stood around Harry and Ginny's piano next to the fireplace and they all sang '_We wish you a merry Christmas_' together, snow fell outside the window as evening flooded and they had fun late into the night.


	17. Chapter 17

**Alarming Post**

New years day had come and gone and Hermione had very much enjoyed the holidays, Luna had left the day after Boxing Day and Hermione had visited the forest every day for the past week, she was really enjoying it and had avoided the conversations with Dantissa who seemed to enjoy nothing more than to judge Hermione.

Hermione heard a noise in the hallway, she opened the living room door to see what it was and realised that there was an envelope on the floor that had been posted through the letterbox. This was an odd surprise as Hermione was used to receiving her letters through owl mail. She opened the door to see who had posted it but no-one was in sight, she shrugged and closed the door and her attention was back on the envelope. She thought that maybe it was a letter from her parents, seeing they had never got the grip of owl post when Hermione was in Hogwarts. She opened the letter with her hands; it was in regular stationery with no wax seal which further made Hermione think that this was no wizard letter. She pulled the letter from the envelope, paper, not parchment, she looked at the contents of the writing and realised that this was not from her parents, it simply read:

_GET OUT_

Hermione was confused by this, who was it from, she opened the door again but still, no-one was there, she closed the door and walked with the letter to the living room,

"RON!" she called, she had to yell for him these days as Harry had gotten him a walkman for Christmas and he was fascinated by music that wasn't from an instrument or in record form. He came in through the back door to the living room,

"What?" he asked, taking of his headphones, Hermione remained silent and simply handed him the letter, he read it and asked, "What's this?"

"I don't know," said Hermione, "It came in the mail just now."

"Well who sent it?" he asked,

"No name." she said, "But it was sent here, it couldn't have been mistaken for a neighbour because no-one lives around here."

"Yeah, and owls don't generally make mistakes." he said,

"It wasn't by owl, it came through the letter box." said Hermione,

"Oh, weird, probably just some muggle kids messing around." he suggested, "What do you suppose it's in reference to?"

"I don't know." said Hermione, "Have any of us been anywhere that we shouldn't have been?"

Hermione came home from work the next day; there was an envelope on the floor, she reached down for it with caution, no owl, no wax seal, she tore it open and pulled out the paper note, she read it:

_I'M WARNING YOU, PLEASE LEAVE_

She was confused by this letter too, she showed it to Ron who arrived home a few minutes after her, she was still standing at the doorstep with an open door behind her, holding the note,

"What you doing?" asked Ron,

"Looks like someone's consistent." said Hermione, handing him the note,

"Leave where?" asked Ron,

"I don't know." said Hermione.

Hermione had decided the next day that if she were to receive any more notes, she would get them analysed at the Ministry; she was well respected at her job and was sure that she would find someone willing to test them for her, see who they were from. After work the next day, she, instead of going home, went to the forest, in fear of another note, she sought comfort there. What could this person be warning her about, was it a violent threat? Where did she have to leave, her house, her job, where? She sat by a tree in the forest, the snow was still there but was melting leaving patches around the place. After a wonder, she left and apparated home where Ron was already.

"Did we get another one?" she asked upon entering the living room,

"No." he said, "Not today."

"Oh, good." said Hermione, surprised.

That night, Hermione and Ron lay in bed together, Hermione was in a light sleep and was awoken by a sudden clatter downstairs, she sat up like a gunshot and realised that it had come from in the house, she shook Ron awake,

"What?" he asked,

"I think someone's in the house." she said in a hushed panic,

"What?" he asked sitting up,

"Go check." she said,

"Why should _I_ check?' he asked,

"Because you're the man." she argued,

"Sexist." he said,

"Oh, I'm so glad that I married the strong, brave type." she said sarcastically,

"Hey, I'm a Gryffindor." he said,

"So prove it." said Hermione,

"You're one too." he said,

"Fine," she conceded, "We go together."

"I'm good with that." said Ron, they both got out of bed and grabbed their wands, Ron went down the stairs and then Hermione, "If anyone's in here, I warn you, I'm an auror, I can have you arrested!" Ron called,

"Ron!" Hermione called, pointing at the doormat,

"What?" he asked,

"Look." she said, pointing at the envelope on the floor, Ron approached with caution as though it was going to explode when he touched, he bent down to pick it up,

'I can't open it." he said,

"Oh for God's sake." she said, she snatched it from him and tore it open, she pulled out the paper and read the words:

_LEAVE US ALONE, FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING, LEAVE US BE_

"'Leave us alone, for the love of everything, leave us be.'" Hermione read aloud,

"Well what do you suppose that means?" asked Ron,

"How should I know?" asked Hermione,

"What do we do know?" asked Ron,

"I'll tell you what we do, we are going to give these notes to someone in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement where they will analyse the handwriting, then we'll find out who's sending these notes because whoever this sick person is, they are toying with our lives now and they know where we live which means that they can come and find us whenever they want and I am _scared_ Ron." she said, he went up and hugged her, she welled up slightly as they walked back up the stairs making sure that they had fully locked all entrances to the house.

Hermione entered the Ministry the next day in the usual way; she walked across the main floor and went over to the lift, not down to the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, but to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. She walked out of the lift and pulled the three notes out of her beaded bag. She went to a analyst's office and handed them too him,

"Hello Mrs. Weasley, what are these?" he asked,

"They're notes." she said,

"I can see that, but what is their significance?" he asked,

"I need to find out who's sending them and you are going to find out for me." she said, he replied with,

"Well, that would take up a lot of valuable lab time, time better spent doing-"

"I'll pay you thirty Galleons." she said,

"It shall be done." he said,

"Thank you, I trust that I'll be hearing from you soon." she said, turning away and heading back to the lift.

Her office workers had noticed that she had recently been a bit distant and tried to cheer her up, Rupert kept trying to tell her his best jokes which were definitely not the best of anything whereas Breeana had baled a batch of butterfly cakes which were pretty delicious.

Hermione went home at the end of the day quite happy, that is until she came home to an envelope on the door mat, she picked it up and angrily tore it open, she read the paper:

_GET OFF OF OUR LAND_

She had no idea what this could possibly be referencing and now she her fear was replaced by another emotion: anger.

The next day, Hermione returned to the analyst's office,

"Ah, Bicknell, I trust you have good news for me." she said,

"Mrs. Weasley, I'm afraid that these notes don't match any handwriting that we have on record. I tried to match the stationery to all shops in the area but none sell it,"

"Well, how far did you search?" she asked,

"Europe." he said,

"Oh." said Hermione,

"So, do I get my money now?" he asked,

"Oh, yes." said Hermione, she pulled her wallet from her beaded bag and paid him thirty Galleons, she walked back down the hall after being handed back the three notes and added them to the fourth that she had now received and returned to her own office.

She went back to the forest again that day, she simply sat there, it really cheered her up. She saw the phoenix fly passed her and she smiled more. Each time she returned to the forest she fell more in love with it.

As she walked up the porch to her house, she made a connection in her mind. The figure that she had seen walking towards her in the alley, could this be the note-sender, she pondered with this in her head and unlocked the door, she saw and envelope on the doormat and sighed, she picked it up and tore it open, she pulled out the paper and read the contents, this one shocked her more than any of the others did:

_GET OUT OF OUR FOREST_


	18. Chapter 18

**Waterfall **

"So, let me get this straight, there's a magical forest, the access to which is through a tree around my college, you've been going there on and off for about five months and now somebody's threatening you to leave it alone?' asked Demelza upon Hermione telling her about the forest, her, Demelza and Ginny were sitting on Hermione's porch around the table,

"Yes." said Hermione,

"This sounds serious.' said Ginny who was looking through the notes,

"Yeah, the third one was posted in the middle of the night." said Hermione,

"What, by hand, not by owl, as in this person has been to your house?" asked Demelza,

"Yes." said Hermione,

"Oh my God, and how's it been recently?" asked Ginny,

"Well, I haven't been to the forest for three weeks and haven't received any notes for the same amount of time." said Hermione,

"Well, the answers simple isn't it?" said Demelza, "Stop going to the forest."

"That's the thing." said Hermione, "I don't want to." she said,

"What?" asked Ginny, gob smacked, "Why not?" she asked,

"Because I've sort of fallen in love with it." said Hermione,

"Okay, you are not thinking straight, Hermione, if you continue to go to this place then who knows what this psychopath could do next, we could end up with you dead all because you love that pretty place so much." said Demelza,

"I don't know what it is but every time I close my eyes I can see the forest and it makes me happy and I have a sudden urge to go there, you have no idea how hard it's been for me for the last three weeks." Hermione argued, truthfully,

"I don't care if it means you alive and well." said Ginny,

"But that's the thing again, the forest makes me feel alive, more than I have for a long time, it takes me passed the nerdy exterior and into the adventurer within me." said Hermione,

"I can't believe this." said Ginny, "For as long as I've known you, you have _always_ been the voice of reason, the voice of concern, how can you keep on going to this place after this." she referenced the notes on the table,

"I'm really trying to fight the urge, believe me, but it's hard, and maybe I don't want to be the voice of concern, because you know what I've truly been for years and it's not reason, it's the fun-killer, the buzz kill, the good times ruiner, and I don't want to be that person any more." said Hermione,

"Then let us be it for you." said Demelza, "Look, Hermione, I know that you love this place and I know that you want more than anything to return, but you could end up dead, this person, whoever they are, they could kill you if you keep going to this place, and we don't want that, because we love you, yes you may have killed a few buzzes but you've kept us from being killed ourselves now let us do the same for you, please?" she begged,

"Yeah." agreed Ginny,

"Okay," Hermione gave in, "I won't go back there." she said,

"Thank you." said Demelza,

"We appreciate it." said Ginny,

"Anyway," said Hermione, changing the subject, "How's Harry doing?"

"He's a lot better since we last talked, he's dealt with his anger and moved on." said Ginny,

"Anger?" asked Demelza,

"Yeah, he was a little on edge after I got attacked." said Ginny,

"Not just then." said Hermione,

"What do you mean?" asked Demelza,

"Well, Harry's always had a large temper, but that's perfectly natural considering how he was raised." said Hermione,

"Yeah." said Ginny, "He's been through a lot, his parents died when he was a baby, he was raised in a house that despised him, his godfather died and then another father figure died, honestly, if Hagrid ever dies I won't be surprised if we have a mass-murder on our hands."

"Well, has he ever gotten violent?" asked Demelza,

"No, no, it was just a joke." said Ginny,

"Yes," said Hermione, "although there was that time when he used the cruciartous curse on Bellatrix Lestrange but that was extreme circumstances, she had just killed Sirius, and, you know, he's always been a yeller."

"Yeah, its fine." said Ginny, "Absolutely fine." she added.

Hermione was walking home from work the next day, she dissapparated from the toilets and didn't find herself where she expected to be. She had intended to go to her house, that's what she had envisioned anyway, but no, she was standing before a tree with the carving of: _Patriam__Omnium__Magica_. Hermione turned away but found her instincts telling her to face the tree and she saw herself doing it. She tried to fight the urge but she couldn't help it, she felt so drawn, it was like the tree was a magnet, pulling her in, she closed her eyes, hoping that the scene would vanish, she opened them again and it had, but not to what she was expecting, she was now looking at the forest, whilst her eyes where closed she had stepped forwards and walked through the gateway.

She took a step on the grass and walked forwards, she breathed the forest air, it felt good, she walked amongst the forest and took in the amazing feeling of discovery, Dantissa had been correct, it was one of the best feelings that there was. She continued to explore the forest; she soon heard the sound of running water.

She walked out from between the trees and saw a river; it was gushing water, very clean water that sparkled in the sunlight making it look more magical. Hermione sat by the river and felt it be peaceful, settling, she enjoyed the nice sound of it flowing water engulf her ears and she smiled. She slipped off her shoes and dipped her toes in the water, like the forest's ocean it was just the right temperature, not too hot and not too cold, just right, she thought of the tale of Goldilocks and ignored the part where the bears ate her. She pulled her toes out of the water and simply lay on the banks, she did a rolly poley and sat up again, she put her shoes back on and stood up.

She leapt over some stepping stones to the other side of the bank; she enjoyed herself with every step that she took, each one putting a bigger smile upon her face. She walked up the side of the bank and came across something. In the weeds there was a small wooden boat with two oars in it. It was only big enough for one person, Hermione sat in it, it was quite comfortable, she grabbed the oars and used one to push against the bank and flow down the river.

The boat moved with the current, there was barely any need for the oars unless it got too close to land. Hermione laid back and put her hands on the back of her head. She relaxed and then noticed the boat start to speed up, she opened her eyes and saw that there was no brief horizon. There was a waterfall just a few metres away, she tried to row backwards with the oars which slowed her down a little but the current was too fast so she continued to move forward. Before she new it Hermione was falling, too panicked to apparate, she was going down the waterfall at high speeds, she was falling and falling and, suddenly, she stopped falling.

She opened her eyes again and saw that the boat was flying and drifting away from the waterfall but slowly downwards anyway. She looked over the side of the boat and saw that it was being carried by stem-clouds; they dropped her off on the lake below where she floated along, the waterfall behind her. She moved forwards and plimpies jumped from the water making an arch over the boat, from the left then the right and the left and the right and so on and so forth. Hermione smiled at them and then saw that in front of her they were doing a synchronized swimming=g routine. They were in a circle with just their legs sticking out; waving in the air, then one jumped out from the centre of the circle and did a complicated flip in the air before going back down into the lake. The circle flipped over so that their top halves were sticking out of the water and each one rotated outwards and disbanded into a path, half on one side and half on the other, Hermione's boat flowed through them and each one that she passed dived over the boat to the other side, Hermione laughed and the boat eventually reached the shore on the other side.

Hermione stepped out of the boat and watched the waterfall flow into the clean lake; it was amazing to witness, completely beautiful, Hermione smiled at it and walked around the lake. She saw exotic looking frogs on her way and then a magnificent otter jump out from the water. Hermione felt attachments to otters, they were her favourite animal and they were the animal that her patronous took the form of. The otter came closer to Hermione and Hermione came closer to it. She stroked it, it had soggy fur but was cute nonetheless. She kneeled down to it and it licked her face, she laughed and wiped of the otter slobber.

"I'm going to call you Otto." she said, "Get it?" she asked, it licked her face again and then jumped into the lake, she laughed and then stood back up.

She continued to walk along the lakeside and came close to the waterfall. She walked closer to it and was soon right next to it, trying to avoid falling into the lake; she went into it and found herself in a cave. The cave was behind the waterfall that she had just stepped through. She looked around the cave, it was quite roomy, as big as Hermione's living room.

Hermione jumped backwards and fell through the waterfall and into the lake, she backstroked back to the shore. When she walked back onto the land she pulled out her wand,

"_Incendio_." she said, a flame came from the tip of her wand and Hermione waved it around her body, drying her off, when the flame had fulfilled its purpose and Hermione was completely dry, she dipped it into the lake to extinguish it. She pulled the compass that she had charmed from out of her pocket and followed it back to the tree.

She walked through the tree and looked back at it, she felt both glad and ashamed that she didn't have the will power to stay away from the forest. Demelza and Ginny had been right, this place was sure to get her killed; she thought that she wouldn't return if she were to receive any more notes, and Hermione hoped that she wouldn't. Her judgment was not the same in that place, it was as though it was beckoning her, she stomped her foot and dissapparated.

She appeared outside her house and walked up her porch and into the building, she looked down at the doormat with caution, but sure enough, no envelope had appeared there, she shook off the caution and went upstairs happily.


	19. Chapter 19

**The Next Step**

Hermione had not returned to the forest since the waterfall, and luckily for her, she had no more notes since the last one either. In fact, she had not received any more notes for another week. She decided not to tell anyone that she had returned, that had just been a slip of her will power and it had very much strengthened since then. Hermione felt proud that she hadn't returned to the forest again and had no further intention to go there.

Hermione went to eat lunch at work with Harry, Ron and Neville. She entered the usual room and sat down,

"Hey Hermione." said Neville,

"Hey honey." said Ron, giving her a quick kiss,

"Hey, Neville, how come you're not with Hannah today?" asked Hermione,

"He is." said Harry, Hannah entered the room, "She just stepped out to use the bathroom."

"Oh, hey Hannah." said Hermione,

"Anyway, go back to telling us." said Harry,

"Telling us what?' asked Hermione,

"Apparently they have big news." said Ron,

"Oh, well, what is it?" asked Hermione,

"Well," said Hannah, "You know Tom?" she asked,

"The innkeeper?" asked Ron,

"Yeah," she said, "Well, he retired!" she exclaimed happily,

"Retired? Why?" asked Harry,

"Oh, it's nothing bad, he just felt he was getting old and has a great pension so he moved to the Caribbean." said Hannah,

"The Caribbean?" asked Hermione,

"Yep." said Hannah,

"And," said Neville, "He left the Leaky Cauldron to his favourite bar tender." said Neville, he and Hannah both looked excited, no-one spoke, they were waiting for the good news still

"It's me, guys, I own the Leaky Cauldron." said Hannah,

"Oh, that's great." said Hermione, hugging her,

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, but that's not the best bit." said Neville,

"It's not?" asked Ron,

"No," said Hannah,

"Why not? What else happened?" asked Harry,

"Well, because of this, me and Hannah are moving in together, into the inn." said Neville,

"Oh, that's great for you guys." said Harry,

"Just great." said Ron, Hermione nodded in agreement, she still didn't know where she stood on Neville and Hannah's relationship, yes, she was happy for Neville, but she didn't want to be betraying Luna by becoming friends with Hannah.

"Great." she said, not to sound awkward, she hugged Neville to congratulate him.

"Hey, out of interest, do you guys know where George is?" asked Neville,

"Why?" asked Ron,

"Well, because, for the last few days, whenever we've been down Diagon Alley, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes has been closed." said Hannah,

"What, why?" asked Harry,

"We were hoping you'd know." said Neville,

"Well, come to think of it, I haven't seen George for about a week." said Ron,

"Me neither," said Hermione,

"What about Angelina, Lee?" asked Ron,

"Actually, Ginny did say that Angelina has missed a few practices." said Harry,

"Stranger and stranger." said Hermione,

"Maybe they just took a holiday." suggested Hannah,

"Yeah," said Ron, "Maybe."

After eating lunch, Hermione thought that she would stop off at Kingsley's office to say hello and to give him some files she'd prepared that were in her beaded bag. She pulled the files out of her beaded bag and made it to Kingsley's office; she opened the door to a shocking sight, she saw Danielle, and Kingsley was there, oh yes, the two of them were kissing on his desk, Hermione's jaw dropped,

"Hermione!" said Danielle, noticing her, shocked; Hermione covered her eyes with her hand,

"I have some files, the workers were wondering about an S.P.E.W mascot, I'll-I'll, I'll just tell them it's dead." she said, throwing the files on the floor and turning around,

"Mrs. Weasley." said Kingsley. Hermione ran from the office, very uncomfortably, Danielle came running after her,

"Hermione, Hermione!" she called, she caught up with her and Hermione stopped to talk,

"Yes?" asked Hermione,

"About what you just saw in there." said Danielle,

"Oh, that," said Hermione, avoiding looking into Danielle's eye, "I'm fine, you know, we're all adults, I just, walked in at the wrong moment."

"I don't want you to think less of me." said Danielle,

"No, no, I don't." said Hermione,

"Then how come you can't look me in the eye?" asked Danielle,

"Oh, that, I just have a…lazy eye." Hermione land,

"I've known you for three years and you've never had a lazy eye." said Danielle,

"Its recent." said Hermione,

"Look, I'm not some tramp going around and snogging the Minister for Magic." said Danielle,

"No, I don't think that you are." said Hermione,

"Look, this has been going on for a while now, I love Kingsley, this is a relationship, not just…you know." said Danielle,

"Really?" asked Hermione,

"Yes, really." Danielle told her, Hermione looked her in the eye,

"Well that's fantastic." she said, hugging Danielle,

"I think so." said Danielle, hugging her back, so are we okay?" she asked,

"Yes, yes, now you get back in there and do what you were doing." said Hermione,

"That was weird." said Danielle,

"Yes it was." said Hermione,

"Do you want to just turn around and walk away awkwardly?" she asked,

"Yes." Hermione said, and they did exactly that.

Mrs. Weasley had invited everyone for dinner at the burrow the next day, she felt that with all of her children having moved out, this would be a good way to keep the family together, of course, Charlie wouldn't be there, he was away in Romania studying dragons.

"Hello." said Hermione upon entering the burrow's kitchen with Ron, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were there along with Percy, Audrey, Bill, Fleur and baby Victoire who had already arrived,

"Hello sweet." said Mrs. Weasley, she kissed Hermione on the cheek, as far as her three daughter-in-laws went, Hermione thought that she was winning as Mrs. Weasley's favourite, of course, she didn't care about such things, she sat down at the table with the rest of them,

"Hello." she said to them,

"'ello 'ermione." said Fleur,

"Hi." said Bill,

"How's the baby?" she asked,

"Vell, she 'as become vezzy attatched to zee Lupin child, Teddy, zay 'ave 'ad many play dates." she said,

"Yeah, she has." said Bill,

"And, what's new with you guys?" Hermione asked Percy and Audrey,

"Nothing, particularly." said Percy,

"Oh, that's nice." said Hermione, awkwardly,

"Well, we've settled nicely into our house." said Audrey,

"Yes," said Percy, "It is satisfactory." just as Hermione wondered how on Earth anybody could have made the choice to marry Percy Weasley, Harry and Ginny entered the room, Hermione went to welcome them, walking away from the uncomfortableness that naturally followed wherever Percy went.

"Hello darlings." Mrs. Weasley said, hugging Ginny and then Harry,

"Hey." said Harry,

"So we're just waiting for George and Angelina then?" asked Mr. Weasley,

"It seems so." said Mrs. Weasley. Hermione went off to chat with Ginny,

"Hey." said Ginny,

"Yeah, hello." said Hermione,

"I think that George and Angelina might take a while," said Ginny,

"Why is that?" asked Hermione,

"Because, Angelina hasn't turned up for practice for over a week." said Ginny, "And Angelina _never_ misses a practice, she prides herself on that."

"Oh, do you think something's happened?" asked Hermione,

"I don't know." said Ginny,

"Oh dear." said Hermione,

"Well it doesn't mean that something bad has happened." said Ginny, "Maybe they got kidnapped."

"How is that _not_ bad?" asked Hermione,

"Yeah, you're right, that was a lousy suggestion." said Ginny.

Just then, the kitchen door opened and George and Angelina walked through it.

"Where the hell have you been?" asked Ginny,

"Just…somewhere." said George, Mrs. Weasley looked at their hands and then Hermione noticed it to, the golden rings around their ring fingers on their left hands,

"What did you do?" asked Mrs. Weasley angrily,

"Now, mum, before you say anything-" tried George,

"What did you do?" she asked again, holding the knife she was using, frustrated,

"Just put, the knife down." said George,

"What is it?" asked Mr. Weasley,

"They _eloped_." Mrs. Weasley croaked angrily,

"What?" asked Mr. Weasley, "Congratulations." he said, standing up to hug the two of them,

"This is not a good thing, Arthur." said Mrs. Weasley,

"Why not?" asked Mr. Weasley, "You've been wanting these two to get married." he said,

"Yeah, exactly." said George,

"Not like this, they should have had a big, family wedding, like Bill and Percy and Ron." she said,

"Well who cares as long as they're married and happy," he said, "You are happy right?' he asked, turning to them, they both nodded, "See." he said to Mrs. Weasley,

"I should have been there." she said,

"We have money from it." said George,

"What?" asked Mr. Weasley,

"Well, we were in Vegas, so we thought that we might as well have had our honeymoon there and all, so we went gambling in a few wizard casinos and…we won…a lot." said George, Angelina nodded,

"Fine." said Mrs. Wesley, "Fine."

They went through dinner and Mrs. Weasley warmed up to the idea eventually and Hermione, Ginny, Fleur and Audrey started to ask Angelina about the wedding.


	20. Chapter 20

**Second Attack**

Mrs. Weasley was still a little cold George but she was coming around after they eloped. Hermione, Harry, Ginny and Ron were helping Neville and Hannah move in to the Leaky Cauldron, Hermione realised that she had never been to Neville's apartment before, it was nice but he had lots and lots of magical plants, he had always been very good at Herbology at Hogwarts. It was quite easy to move boxes, all they had to do was pick one up, apparate to the inn and then drop them off.

"Thanks guys, I really appreciate it." said Neville as they helped put things in their new place. They were to be living were Tom had lived, the biggest room in the inn, it was quite nice after they washed it (since it was _Tom_ who had been living there after all), roomy and spacious.

"No problem." said Hermione,

"Yeah, nothing at all." said Harry,

"No, but seriously, you're very kind." said Hannah who was displaying a potted plant,

"Our pleasure." said Ginny who was transporting a box marked _kitchen_; this was the only room in the inn to have its own kitchen.

"Hey, where do you want this?" asked Ron, he was holding another plant,

"Just there." said Neville, pointing to a space.

"Okay." said Ron, putting it where told.

"So, does it seem different now that you actually own it as appose to just working in it?" asked Hermione,

"Yeah, I guess, its pretty cool." said Hannah, "We have a great view of the alley." she added,

Hermione looked out the window and was looking directly down Diagon Alley; it looked very nice from above.

"Yeah you do." said Ron

"So is that everything?" asked Ginny,

"Yeah, I think so." said Harry, looking around the room, "You're all moved in." he said,

"Well, thanks guys, you've been a great help." said Hannah,

"By the way, what've you done with your apartment now that you've moved out?" asked Ron,

"Oh, I've leased it out to a new owner." said Neville, "Seamus and Dean live there now." he said.

"Oh," said Hermione, "Plutonic, right?" she asked,

"Yeah." said Neville,

"Okay." she said.

"Well, see ya." said Ginny; they walked out of the room,

"Thanks," Hannah waved, "you've been great." she said.

"Hope you like it." said Harry right before the four of them left the room and closed the door behind them.

They all went to there own homes, Hermione and Ron went to their house and upon entering, Hermione walked into the living room and Ron walked into the kitchen to make some tea. Hermione saw that a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ had been left on her sofa; she must have missed the owl that had brought it whilst she was at Neville and Hannah's. She picked it up and was immediately intrigued upon seeing a photograph of Wallace Grammar, she read the headline: _Grammar Set Free: Stabber Strikes Again._

_A young woman by the name of Jemima Peters, 18, Hogwarts Graduate, was stabbed in the left shoulder last night and bled to death upon her not being discovered. Her body was found early this morning in a room in the Hogsmeade inn, the Hog's Head by the owner, Aberforth Dumbledore, he soon stated that 'The girl was on the floor next to her bed, she must have been there all night, if only I hadn't of had an early night or I would have caught the guy who done it, bleeding psychopath.'_

_It is believed that it was the same attacker that stabbed Ginny Weasley, 19, back in August as the wound was almost identical. It was also identical to the many young women that have been attacked before Miss Weasley over the course of the previous seven years, this marks the eleventh attack within that time._

_Previous suspect, Wallace Grammar, 25, was in prison when this happened and has witnesses including the Azkaban guards and other prisoners. Due to this the law has granted him early release as it is no longer suspected in this case. He said to the people who wanted him to explain himself for the witnesses finding him with a knife that he had been put in a trance by someone that he had met and that this person handed him the knife and made him run with it into the crowd of witnesses, due to recent circumstances, aurors are forced to believe his tale and he is currently out of Azkaban prison._

_A private funeral is being put into place by the friends and family members of the deceased and it shall be commencing on the upcoming Friday, the guests shall be invitation only and the family has asked that they are not to be interrupted by those who have not received an invitation._

_A full search is currently being conducted by the aurors at the Ministry of Magic and everyone is praying that this criminal is soon caught by the authorities…_

Hermione froze for that moment, shocked that Ginny's attacker was now out loose, Ron entered the room with two cups of tea in his hands, he handed one to Hermione who took it but didn't take her eyes away from the paper,

"What is it?" asked Ron, sipping his tea, she handed him the paper,

"Read." she instructed, he took the paper and quickly skimmed through it,

"Oh my God." he said once finishing,

"Yes." said Hermione, "He's still out there,

"Ginny's going to be scared out of her mind." he said,

"Yes, and Harry will be distraught." said Hermione,

"Why?" asked Ron,

"He only just got fully back since the last guy got arrested." said Hermione, "Have you heard about this at the Ministry yet, it says that the aurors are currently working on it?" she asked,

"No, me and Harry haven't been into work since yesterday, it's our day off today." he said,

"Oh, of course." said Hermione,

"Well, look on the bright side." he said, "Its Valentine's Day tomorrow."

"Oh, I forgot." said Hermione, "I remember last Valentine's Day when I was stuck at a road side for an hour."

"Yes, but you got your old wand back." said Ron,

"That's true, and it's a lot better." said Hermione,

"Exactly." he said,

"So what have you got planned for tomorrow?" asked Hermione,

"Well, the local community is having a Valentine's ball." he suggested,

"Sounds good." said Hermione, "Or should I say that it sounds like a ball." she said,

"Ha." he gave a fake laugh,

"Yeah, that was pretty terrible." she admitted.

There was knocking at the door,

"Wonder who that could be?" asked Ron,

"I'll go and find out." said Hermione, She walked up to the front door and opened it to Ginny standing on her porch holding up the latest issue of the _Daily Prophet_ that Hermione had just been reading,

"Have you seen this?" she asked, Hermione stepped out onto the porch and closed the door behind her, they both sat down on the steps,

"Yes." said Hermione,

"This is not good." she said,

"I know that you're scared." said Hermione,

"Scared, I'm not scared, the last time that someone started walking along behind me I flipped them, I'll be fine, it's Harry I'm worried about." she said,

"Well was that guy alright?" she asked,

"Never mind about the guy," said Ginny, "Harry's gonna be on edge again." she said,

"Does he know yet?" asked Hermione,

"No," said Ginny, "I didn't show him the paper and I bought all of the _Daily Prophets_ that I could find within a one-mile radius of my house and burned them all."

"Well, he works as an auror, he'll definitely find out by tomorrow." said Hermione,

"I know, I know, he'll probably volunteer himself to lead the case." she said, "I'm worried about him." said Ginny,

"I know, me too." said Hermione, she put her arm around Ginny's shoulder and Ginny buried her head into Hermione's neck.

When Hermione had gone for lunch the next day at the Ministry, Harry had not been there, he was doing work on the case. Hermione didn't see him all day, she just continued with her own work.

She came home that night to Ron in a suit; he grabbed her waist, spun her and lowered her,

"What's all this?" she asked,

"I'm ready for the ball." he said, standing her back up.

"Let me just get dressed and I will be too." said Hermione,

"Okay," said Ron, "I'll wait." she ran up the stairs and walked into her bedroom, she took the dress that she had picked out that morning from her bed and quickly dressed into it, it was lilac, strapless and flowy, Hermione walked down the stairs, "You look beautiful." said Ron,

"Thanks." she said, "Are you ready to go?" she asked,

"Yep." said Ron, she took his hand and they dissapparated after leaving the house.

They appeared outside of the community centre of the village that was closest to their house, they entered it and there were lots of people dancing. Hermione and Ron joined in; they started with a fast dance, then ate some of the buffet, and then went with a romantic slow dance,

"You having fun?" asked Ron,

"As a matter of fact I am.' said Hermione, Hermione then thought of the silhouette that had been moving towards her in the alley months previously, had that been the stabber, did Hermione know who he was, was he after her, did Ginny get attacked because of something that Hermione had done?

"What's wrong?" asked Ron, referencing her sudden sad face,

"What? Nothing." she said, putting back on her smile and continuing to dance with Ron.


	21. Chapter 21

**Sky Ship**

Hermione had not made a return to the forest since the waterfall still and was feeling even more proud of her sense of will power. Harry hadn't reacted well to the news that Ginny's attacker was still on the loose and was leading the case to try and catch him leading Harry to late nights and sleep loss. Hermione and Ginny began to worry about him slightly but until something serious happened, they decided not to burden themselves with it.

"So," said Ron who had just walked through the front door, "No notes for a whole month, I guess staying away from the forest worked, huh?"

"Well, not entirely." said Hermione,

"What do you mean?" asked Ron,

"Well, I returned one time after receiving the last note but we haven't gotten anymore so I figure that it's safe." she said,

"What?" he asked, "You returned?"

"Briefly." Hermione replied,

"Are you sure that that was a good idea?" asked Ron,

"Well, we got no more notes and nothing's happened to us so I'm pretty sure that they were just empty threats." said Hermione,

"But what if they're not?" asked Ron,

"There's no need top worry, I haven't returned for over a month and the forest is a perfectly safe and magical place." said Hermione,

"Well, I'm not so sure, when I forest entered that place I got a really bad vibe from it." he said,

"I know, but that could have been anything." she said,

"I'm pretty sure that 'get out of our forest' is a bit of a giveaway that it's not all that." he said,

"Yes, but, think about it, they were muggle letters, the way I think it, some muggle kid has found the forest and is deciding to mess with us." she said,

"But what if it's not that simple?" he asked,

"Look, the forest is an amazing place and is one of the most peaceful and happy places that I've ever been to." she argued,

"Fine, I'm sure that you're right." he said,

"Why don't you come and see?" she asked,

"What?' he asked,

"Well, you could spend some time in the forest, with me." she suggested,

"I'm not so sure about that." he said,

"I am." said Hermione, "It'll be the only way to prove to you that the forest is perfectly safe."

"Okay, fine, I'll go." he caved,

"Great." said Hermione,

"When?" he asked,

"Well, I'm not doing anything now." she said,

"No." he said,

"You _did_ agree.' she said,

"Oh, damn, fine." he said,

"Great." she repeated, "Come on." she added, taking his hand and leading him out the door, the two dissapparated.

They appeared in the forest that contained St. Mungo's college, Hermione walked them over to the tree using her charmed compass and they made it, Hermione walked through it and dragged Ron with her. They now stood in the forest, all of the snow had now melted and the warmth was returning, Hermione took it all in and smiled,

"See, nothing to worry about." she said,

"I'm not so sure." he said,

"Come on." she demanded, Ron followed her on a walk through the forest,

"Well, it's quite nice." he said,

"You see, and not scary at all." she said,

"No, I suppose not." he said, he sniffed and admired the forest,

"Thank you." she said, he kissed her and thy smiled at each other, that was right before a large net fell on them.

The two were on the ground; the rope net had covered them and was now sealing itself around the bottom,

"What the hell?" said Ron,

"I don't know, this has never happened before." she said, struggling with the ropes, she reached for her wand and said, "_Diffindo_." a piece of the rope sliced open but then repaired itself,

"_Diffindo._" tried Ron, but the same thing happened, it split in half and then reattached itself,

"_Reducto_!" Hermione tried, a hole was made in the rope net which soon sealed itself,

"Nothing's working." said Ron, they started to be lifted higher, "What's happening?" he asked,

"I don't know." said Hermione; the net was lifted through the trees still containing the two of them. They were lifted high into the sky and they could see the whole bird's-eye-view of the forest,

"Wow." she heard Ron mutter before saying, "Where are we going?"

"I'm not sure." she answered the net started to slow down, "I think that we're coming to a stop."

"Oh great, and then what?" asked Ron, they flew pat something wooden and then stopped, something cut them loose and they dropped out but they landed on a deck. They were now standing on a pirate ship, one that was flying in the sky above the forest, with several pirates pointing cutlasses at them,

"_Expelliarmus_!" yelled Hermione the sword flew from one pirate's hand, "_Expelliarmus, Expelliarmus, Expelliarmus, Expelliarmus_!" she yelled, more swords started to fly out of hands, Ron joined in,

"_Expelliarmus, Expelliarmus…_" And all the swords were landing on deck, Hermione started doing it non-verbally and then all of the pirates were unarmed.

"Clever girl." said a voice, a well dressed pirate walked through the rest of them, Hermione assumed that he was the captain, "I'm Captain Huffman." he said, he held out a hand and Hermione shook it, he then shook Ron's,

"So," started Hermione, "You mind telling us where we are?" she asked,

"Why sure, you're on board the Winged Sale." he said,

"Named that because…" started Ron,

"It flies, yes." said Huffman,

"Fair enough." said Ron,

"Look, sorry about my crew, they're not used to having humans in the forest and they like abducting people, if you like, you're welcome to stay the evening." he said,

"Sure." said Hermione, intrigued by where she was,

"Are you sure about this?" Ron whispered in her ear,

"When was the last time you could say that you had dinner with pirates?" she asked,

"Good point." he said,

"Please, come in." said Huffman, he lead them into the cabin on deck an they went into it. It was decorated very nicely and Hermione saw a wardrobe in it, she opened it and saw a mix of pirate clothes and gowns,

"These are very nice." said Hermione,

Ah, those, just things that I've picked up over the years, you're welcome to try some on." Huffman said,

"Really?" asked Ron.

When Ron and Hermione emerged from the cabin, Hermione was dresses in a black gown with cuts of navy fabric that hung loose in the wind, it was quite nice, Ron was wearing a pirate coat along with hat and sword and holster. The crew clapped.

As evening drew in, they started to get more fun, the ship was lit up nicely and music was playing and they were all a lot more relaxed. Hermione was word fighting with Huffman, she already knew a little of her way around a sword, she had taken fencing when she was younger and Huffman was giving her some lessons. Hermione whacked her sword and Huffman's cutlass flew from his hand,

"Very good." he said,

"Thank you." said Hermione, Ron was enjoying a chat with the crew whilst they drank rum.

"You can keep the dress by the way." he said,

"Oh, well thanks, it's great." she said,

"Thank you, I take pride in all of my collections." he said,

"Even dresses?" asked Hermione,

"Well yes, I mainly got them from women that I've made love to over the years." said Huffman,

"Oh well, that's…" Hermione tried to put a good spin on 'creepy' but ended up going with, "…lovely."

"Did you keep your clothes?" he asked, "The ones that you arrived with?"

"Oh yes, they're in my bag." she said, gesturing to her beaded bag,

"One more sword fight?" he asked,

"Why not?" said Hermione, they picked up their swords and exchanged blades.

"Well, I think that we should be off now." said Hermione after another hour,

"Why do you say that?" asked Huffman,

"Because my husband is about to have too much rum." she said,

"Ah, well goodbye." said Huffman,

"Goodbye captain." she said, she grabbed Ron and the two of them dissapparated to the forest ground, they used the compass to get top the tree, walked through it and then apparated to their house.

"So, did you enjoy yourself?" asked Hermione,

"Very much actually." said Ron,

"Okay, let's get you in." she said, they walked up the porch steps and into the house,

"Pirate's are nicer than you'd think." said Ron,

"Yes they are." said Hermione,

"That was a fun night out." he said,

"I'm glad that you think so, so how do you like the forest now?" she asked,

"I don't mind it actually." he said,

"That's great." said Hermione, "Just great."


	22. Chapter 22

**Worldwide Discoveries**

Hermione woke up happily on a March morning; she sat up with a grin on her face and danced out of bed,

"Why are you so cheery?" asked Ron who had just woken up,

"Today's the day that Luna's coming back." she said,

"She comes back often though." he said,

"Yes, but, today she's coming back permanently." said Hermione excitedly, "I got a letter from her last night." she said,

"Oh, that's great, where'll she be staying?" asked Ron,

"With her dad in the rook house." said Hermione,

"Of course, you wouldn't know that it's a rook." said Ron,

"I would now, I read up on chess, very simple actually, it's all tactical." she said,

"Yes, it is, it requires immense skill." he said,

"So why do you play?" Hermione teased, she kissed him and went downstairs to make some breakfast.

She put some bread in the toaster and turned it on, Ron came downstairs too,

"When'll she be arriving then?" he asked,

"I don't know, but it is today." she said, "She's about ready to publish her book now."

"She's writing a book?" Ron asked,

"Yes, did I not mention that, it's about all of the things she's done around the world, sounds interesting, I can't wait to read it." she said,

"Yeah, well, reading's not exactly my thing." said Ron,

"No, that's why I used to write your essays for you." said Hermione,

"Oh yes, I forgot to thank you for that." said Ron,

"How about now?" she asked,

"Okay, thanks." he said,

"You're welcome." she replies, he gave her a peck on the cheek and went to retrieve some butter and jam from the fridge, the toast popped up, he grabbed some, a plate from the cupboard, a knife from the draw and began to spread. "Thanks." said Hermione, she grabbed the toast from his plate and bit into it,

"Hey, that was mine." he said,

"It's to make up for me doing your essays." she said with a mouthful of toast.

"Ha ha." he said, Hermione smiled, they heard a bell ring in the distance, "What's that?" asked Ron,

"I think that she's here." said Hermione dropping the toast on the plate and walking to the front door.

Hermione opened the door and saw Luna flying down on her pink bicycle to the front lawn, she landed and Newt ran out of the basket and passed Hermione's legs, Crookshanks shrieked and ran upstairs but Newt went off to the back garden with Leontes,

"Hello Hermione." said Luna, walking up the porch,

"Hi Luna." said Hermione, she gave her a hug and invited her in, they sat in the living room on the sofa, "Can I get you anything, tea, coffee?" she asked,

"No thanks, it was just this morning that I was having some herbal tea with some Japanese geishas in Japan, they taught me some origami moves, but to get here I had to take a plane because my bike was mistakenly taken aboard, I didn't have any muggle money so I worked as a stewardess to work it off." said Luna,

"That explains the outfit." said Hermione, noticing that Luna was wearing a flight attendant's uniform,

"It was quite fun actually, I've never taken a plane ride before and it was fun to push the trolley," she said,

"Good for you then." said Hermione,

"Thank you." said Luna,

"So, is the book all ready?" asked Hermione,

"Mostly, I recently found some dabberblimps in New Zealand, but I feel it's lacking in something." she said,

"What do you mean, you've found creatures that people thought were the dreams of crazy people, the title of your book should be 'Who's Looney Now?'" said Hermione,

"It's actually going to be named 'Worldwide Discoveries'." she said, "But I feel that it needs one big extra thing, I was hoping that it would be a crumple horned snorkack but unfortunately I still have never found one." said Luna,

"What a shame." said Hermione,

"Yes, I think so; I think that the word was out that I was looking for them so they went into extra hiding." she said,

"Of course, so when will the book be hitting the shelves?" asked Hermione,

"Well," said Luna, "I don't know the exact date but I have a meeting with a publisher on Friday."

"Well that's great, I can't wait to read it." said Hermione,

"So, where's Ronald?" she asked,

"Oh, probably making his own toast." said Hermione, it was then when Hermione had a thought, something occurred to her, "Luna?' she asked,

"Yes?" she replied,

"You say that you need a big discovery?" Luna nodded; "Well, what if I told you that there was a whole forest filled with unidentified creatures?" asked Hermione, Luna's eyes widened.

A few hours later, Hermione and Luna (equipped with camera) walked through the St. Mungo's college forest and they came to the tree via Hermione's compass which Luna had taken a picture of,

"Here it is." said Hermione, gesturing the tree with the craving, Luna took a picture of the tree and the carving upon it and then the two of them walked through it,

"Wow!" Luna exclaimed upon entering the forest, she snapped picture of the tree that they had just came through and the forest in general, the phoenix flew down and Luna snapped it with her camera.

"I know." said Hermione,

"This place is amazing." she said,

"I know." said Hermione, They walked onwards and Luna was constantly taking photographs and smiling at the place, "So," said Hermione, "Where to first?" she asked.

Luna and Hermione later stood before the wall woven of leaves,

"How do we get over it?" asked Luna,

"Climb the tree." said Hermione,

"Oh," said Luna, taking a picture of the wall of leaves. They began to climb the tree; they made it to the top and then climbed down,

"Her-My-Nee." They were immediately greeted with, they were standing in the toadstool town with the basimites and montemites looking at them,

"Who are these little guys?" asked Luna,

"Well, the ones in the red dungarees are the basimites and the ones in the blue dungarees are the montemites," Hermione explained,

"Who's this?" asked a basimite,

"This is my friend Luna, she is very kind." she said,

"Loo-Na." they all said,

"Hello." said Luna, she took a picture of the toadstool houses and the creatures, they smiled and posed for the picture, she took one of the mountain,

"What's that?" she asked, pointing,

"Oh, that's the ski lift." said Hermione, "Why don't we go up it?" she asked,

"Please?" said Luna happily,

"Be our guest." said the montemites chief, they walked up to the ski lift and hopped onto a seat that passed them,

"Wow, this place is fascinating." she said,

"I know." said Hermione, "Luna took some pictures of the mountain and the two of them jumped off when the reached the top, there were more basimites and montemites up here among the small log cabins, Luna took some more pictures,

"So, what are they?" she asked, pointing at some crops,

"Oh, they're beatusberries, they can only grow here on the mountain and it's what they love to eat." said Hermione,

"Wow." said Luna, taking more pictures.

After they had gone back down the ski lift Hermione took Luna to the ocean and the two of them put the bubble head charm on, they got into the swimming costumes that Hermione had put in the beaded bag for this occasion and dived in. They swam out far and were greeted by some mermaids who were singing, Luna had charmed her camera to work underwater and snapped them in a photo, they got to the place and Luna was taken aback by it, she took some pictures and Hermione smiled. They swam within the castle and Luna got some great interior shots as well as a photo of the merman king. They swam out of the water, apparated to land, dried off and got changed into their normal clothes.

They next went to the waterfall that Luna took a picture of, they got into the boat and Luna got some shots of the jumping plimpies. After they got out of the boat Hermione took Luna behind the waterfall and she took some pictures of the interior of the cave. She was still fascinated by everything,

"Do you like it?" asked Hermione,

"I love it." said Luna.

"Then look at this." said Hermione. They retreated from the cave and Hermione sent green sparks high into the sky, it's what Huffman had told her to do if she wanted to contact him again.

"What did that do?" asked Luna,

"You'll see." said Hermione, they had a net dropped on them and were lifted fast onto the ship where they were cut out.

"Amazing." said Luna; she took pictures of the forest from above and of the ship.

After they had enjoyed the pirates and the ship they were let back down again,

"Thanks for that, anything else that you want to show me?" asked Luna,

"I see you've brought a friend." said a voice that was contained within some multi-coloured smoke that took the form of a woman, flooding with colour, Luna quickly took a picture,

"Who's that?" asked Luna,

"I am Dantissa." she said,

"Luna, she is a genie." said Hermione,

"Wow." said Luna,

"So, you decided to share the forest?" asked Dantissa,

"Yes I did." said Hermione,

"Well, goodbye." she said, she turned back into smoke and Luna took a picture, Dantissa whizzed away.

"Wow, a real life genie." said Luna,

"Yes, well, they're different than the story." she said,

"In what way?" asked Luna,

"Well, she only grants you wishes if you've earned her respect." said Hermione,

"Oh, makes sense." said Luna, the two of them walked back to the tree and Luna took pictures on the way.

A week later Luna knocked on Hermione's door,

"What is it?" asked Hermione,

"I'm here to give you your free copy." said Luna, she handed Hermione a book, it was brown leather with green stitching emblazoned onto it to look like it was framed by flowery vines, in the middle was the golden title: _Worldwide Discoveries_, she was then drawn to the writing beneath it: _by Luna Lovegood_.

"The book, they published it, wow." said Hermione,

"Thank you." said Luna, Hermione flicked through it, it had many photographs of various creatures with pages of writing accompanying each one, it was very thick, over eight hundred pages long, Hermione saw a page entitled: _The Genie_ with a picture of Dantissa, she then saw a page entitled:_ About the Author _at the very end with a picture of Luna,

"I'm so proud of you." said Hermione, hugging Luna,

"Thank you." said Luna.

That night, Hermione stayed up to read Luna's book and it was the best book of the many, many that she had written, it had excitement, adventure, realism, emotion and Hermione was amazed at all that Luna had accomplished in under two years, it was the best book the Hermione had ever, ever read.


	23. Chapter 23

**Payment**

Hermione walked into the S.P.E.W office and was the first to have arrived; she walked over to her desk and sat behind it. A moment later, Kingsley walked in,

"Mrs. Weasley." he said, "I have some news for you."

"What is it?" asked Hermione,

"Thank God you're sitting down." he said,

"Okay, you're scaring me now, what is it?" she asked,

"The funding for the S.P.E.W office is coming out short." he said,

"What?" she asked, "But I thought that we had that donation from Grussells from last Easter."

"Yes, but, that only got you so far." he said, "Between that you've had a campaign, passed a law, etcetera."

"So what's going to happen if we don't get the funds we need?" she asked,

"We're going to have to get rid of the office." he said, Hermione's heart sank,

"But, you do that, I'm out of a job as are five other people and a house elf and we're in the middle of passing a law." she said frantically,

"This is out of my hands." he said sadly,

"Well put it back in your hands, for God's sake, you said it yourself, no other office has accomplished as much as this one has within a single year." she said,

"And that's still true, but, we don't have enough money to keep you going." he said,

"But what if we find the funds?" she asked,

"Well, then, things would be different." he said, "I'm so sorry Mrs. Weasley."

"No, it isn't your fault, say hello to Danielle for me." she said as Kingsley turned around, he walked passed Tatyana, Aisha, Rupert, Freddie, Breeana and Dalis as they were entering the office.

"Hey Hermione." said Freddie, going over to his desk,

"What's wrong?" asked Tatyana, noticing Hermione's sad expression. Hermione began to talk, she explained the situation and the conversation that she and Kingsley had just had,

"So, we have no money left?" asked Aisha,

"None at all?" asked Breeana,

"Well, some, enough to last a while, but not enough to push through this campaign." said Hermione,

"Well, what about Rupert?" asked Tatyana,

"What about me?" asked Rupert,

"Well, you come from money, when you took the job you said that you could help with funding." she said,

"Yeah, you did." said Aisha,

"Yeah well…" started Rupert,

"Well what?" asked Freddie,

"Yeah, what?" asked Hermione,

"Well, I'm not exactly on speaking terms with my parents." he said,

"Well why not?" asked Breeana,

"When I left home, they kind of kicked me out." he said,

"Well why?" asked Hermione,

"They were fed up with having no house elf because I kept freeing them." he explained,

"Well, that's noble." said Breeana,

"Not to them." he said,

"So, how hard would it be to fix your relationship?" asked Freddie,

"Freddie, just because they fix their relationship does not mean that they'll give us the funds." said Aisha,

"No, but they would give me my trust fund back, and that would cover the funds." Rupert said,

"Well great, just tell your parents to love you again, simple enough." said Tatyana sarcastically,

"I'm sure that they still love him." said Breeana,

"You don't know my parents." said Rupert,

"So what could we do, organize some sort of dinner?" suggested Hermione,

"That'd probably work, they only do things properly." he said, "Of course the hard part will be getting them to agree to it."

"Well, get on your knees and start groveling." said Hermione,

"No, it'd have to be a formal apology." he said,

"Well then get out a quill and write a letter, either way, I am not letting a decade of S.P.E.W work go down the drain for nothing, you better get that dinner, Rupert, I'm counting on you." she said

"Fine, I'll see what I can do." he said,

"Meanwhile, we'll hold some fundraisers." said Aisha,

"I'm good with that." said Freddie, Breeana and Tatyana also nodded at this,

"Okay, so you get started on that, Rupert, get writing." Hermione instructed

Hermione sat behind her desk the next morning, waiting for Rupert to enter the office, she tapped her fingernails on her desk, making a rattling sound, the door opened and Tatyana entered, then Freddie, then Breeana, then Aisha, the Dalis who was quickly followed by Rupert,

"So, do you have good news for me?" she asked,

"Yes!" he exclaimed,

"Really?" asked Hermione excitedly,

"Yes." he repeated, "I sent ten letters last night, all with the same point, to my parents house, they burnt the first few but then they opened one and decided that they want to make amends over dinner."

"That's fantastic!" Hermione yelled, standing up and doing a happy dance,

"They want you guys to come to." he said,

"What?" they all asked in unison,

"Master said that all of the people in the S.P.E.W office is to attend the dinner." said Dalis,

"Yes, thank you." said Freddie sarcastically,

"You're welcome." said Dalis,

"So when is the dinner?" asked Hermione,

"Tonight." he said.

"That's a bit short notice isn't it." said Hermione,

"My parents are short notice people." said Rupert,

"Fine," said Hermione, "We'll be there."

"Actually, us four have the fundraiser tonight." said Tatyana,

"Yeah." said Breeana, Aisha and Freddie in unison,

"So I'll be there then, why does she want to meet us anyway?" asked Hermione,

"They want to know the foundation that they'll be helping." he said,

"But they don't support S.P.E.W." said Hermione,

"That's why we tell them that this is a charity to help the rich be richer." said Rupert,

"No, we help house elves, I'm not going to lie." said Hermione, "I'll just male them see us in a new, better light."

"Yeah," said Rupert, "Good luck with that."

That evening, Hermione put on some nice clothes and joined Rupert in leaving the S.P.E.W office,

"Come on, they can't be that bad." she was saying on the lift,

"They are." said Rupert, "They once bought me a puppy just so they could threaten to kill it."

"Well, puppy killing aside, they're going to love house elves by the end of the night, where's Dalis anyway?' she asked,

"The others took him to the fundraiser." he said,

"Oh." she said, the lift stopped and they walked to a fireplace, the two went up it and the apparated to the location.

They appeared outside some gates, they were to a very large villa house with a great front garden with a large pond,

"This is it." he said,

"This is it?" she asked, Rupert nodded, "Wow." she said,

"Yep." the gates opened themselves and let them in, "They must know that we're here." said Freddie. The two of them walked down the garden path,

"So what do I call them, do they have names?" asked Hermione nervously,

"Yes they have names, my grandparents didn't just write a number on there arm and tell them to join the line up, but new people must refer to them as 'Mr. and Mrs. Oakridge'." he said in a phony posh voice,

"Well that's fair enough." said Hermione, they walked up the steps and Freddie used the large, intimidating door knocker, it boomed on the door and Hermione heard footsteps on the other side.

The door opened and a man and a woman stood there, the woman wore a fancy dress and had her hair tied back in a bun pulling her face back and making her skin tighter than the plastic surgery that it had so obviously received, the man stood tall in a suit with a handle bar moustache,

"Ah, Rupert, we were expecting you, come in." said Mr. Oakridge,

"And you must be Mrs. Weasley." said Mrs. Oakridge, "I'm Marisa but you can call me Mrs. Oakridge." she said, taking out a hand, Hermione shook it scarcely,

"Yes, and I'm Mr. Oakridge." Hermione shook his hand too.

"Shall we proceed to the dinner table?" asked Mrs. Oakridge,

"I don't see a reason why not." said Hermione, the four of them walked to a different room, a room with a dining table set for four with a salad in each place,

"Let the starter begin." said Mr. Oakridge upon them all sitting down,

"First of all, we can't thank you enough for employing our son." said Mrs. Oakridge,

"It's no problem at all, he's great around the office." said Hermione,

"Yes, well, we were worried that he was so stupid that we would never land a job." she said, Hermione turned to Rupert and mouthed the word 'wow', Rupert nodded at her and Hermione turned back to Rupert's parents.

"So, do you know a lot about our foundation?" asked Hermione,

"Not really." said Mr. Oakridge,

"Well, it's called S.P.E.W and it's all about helping house elves and…" they both scoffed, "…getting them rights."

"Do the little buggers need rights?" asked Mr. Oakridge, Hermione turned to Rupert again, he nodded.

They got through dinner and Hermione kept trying to keep them happy,

"So that's how we plan to get the rich people more rich." Hermione finished,

"Well, that sounds great." said Mrs. Oakridge,

"Much better than that house elf joke that you started the evening with." said Mr. Oakridge,

"Yes, it is." said Hermione, rolling her eyes out of their sight.

They walked out at the end of the evening after saying their goodbyes,

"So, the money will be transferred to my account as we speak, and then, I donate it all to S.P.E.W and by the time my parents realise their mistake they won't be able to touch a single Knut." said Rupert,

"I do feel bad about lying though." said Hermione,

"You did good." said Rupert, "And now we can continue with our campaign, better a couple of rich people get suckered than all of the house elves loose their rights, and you met them, they deserve it." he said,

"True.' said Hermione, "And if you think about it, that money's yours anyway." she said,

"Exactly." said Rupert,

"And is it enough to keep us on our feet?" asked Hermione,

"Trust me, if we put this into S.P.E.W.'s account at Gringotts it'll keep on gaining interest until the cows come home, one per cent of that money is enough to make a homeless person rich with a villa as big as this one." he said,

"Great." said Hermione.


	24. Chapter 24

**Hermione's Little Discovery**

The transition from the Oakridge's to Rupert's to S.P.E.W.'s account at Gringotts had now been made and S.P.E.W had no more money troubles and the Oakridge's wouldn't be able to touch the money ever again, and the interest that it would gain each year was enough to run the office for another two years, so they were sorted. Kingsley had come into the office earlier that morning to share the good news that they were now one of the richest offices in the Ministry.

"Looks like we pulled it off." said Tatyana after he had left,

"Yep, we sure did." said Aisha,

"It wasn't like some big heist." said Hermione,

"Who cares, we're rich!" said Freddie,

"Yes, but it's not _our_ money, it's the house elves money." she said,

"So how did the fundraiser go last night?" asked Rupert,

"Great, we made loads." said Breeana,

"They made lots of Galleons master." said Dalis,

"That's great." said Hermione,

"Yeah it is." said Tatyana,

"How did you do it?" asked Hermione,

"We have our ways." said Freddie,

"You certainly do." said Hermione, "How much did you make?"

"Over five hundred Galleons." said Aisha,

"Wow, impressive." said Rupert,

"Not as impressive as you two," said Tatyana, "With a single dinner you raised millions."

"Yeah, I still can't get over the fact that we're rich." said Freddie,

"Not us, the elves." Hermione prompted,

"Yeah Freddie." said Breeana,

"Fine, fine, I know." he said, it was then that an owl flew through the door with a newspaper clutched in it's talons, Aisha took the paper and gave the owl a Knut, it flew away,

"What was that?" asked Hermione,

"Oh, I get it delivered here now." said Aisha,

"Um, okay." said Hermione,

"Oh my God, not again," said Aisha upon looking at the front page,

"What, what is it?" asked Breeana,

"Look at this." she said, she turned around the _Daily Prophet_ so that they could all read the headline: _Stabber Claims Victim Number Twelve._

"No." said Hermione,

"Who was it?" asked Tatyana,

"I don't know, just some girl." said Aisha, Hermione walked over to her desk, Aisha automatically handed her the paper and Hermione read the article that followed the headline:

_Melissa Helsinki, 23, was found dead late last night via a stab wound to the left shoulder. The body was found by the bouncer of a night club in the alley beside said club, according to him she had been laying there for hours. He says that he did not see the person who did it as he was around the corner of the alley and there is a separate exit to it._

_There are still no leads caught by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic as to who the mystery stabber may be. He has not yet been caught nor has he become close to have been. The aurors are currently working hard for the attacker to be found and are praying that no more young women are attacked in the time that it takes them to do so._

_The girl's family is currently orchestrating the funeral and are grieving in private as we speak. Our thoughts and prayers are with them as well as for the stabber to be caught and imprisoned soon. There is a reward for anyone who catches him…_

"Blimey." Hermione muttered under her breath,

"Is it bad?" asked Tatyana,

"Quite bad." she said, they all passed it around, after reading it, most of them looked worried,

"They'd better catch this creep." said Freddie,

"I'm sure that they're working on it." said Tatyana,

"Yes, I'd better go check on Harry later." said Hermione,

"Harry Potter?" asked Rupert,

"Um, yes, why?" asked Hermione,

"You know Harry Potter, wow." he said,

"Everyone already knows this Rupert." said Aisha,

"Yeah." said Freddie,

"Well I didn't." he said, they all rolled their eyes.

Hermione went to Ron's floor for lunch and walked into the room that they all usually ate in, Ron and Neville were there, but not Harry,

"Hey honey." said Ron,

"Hey." she said, sitting down, "Where's Harry?" she asked,

"Yeah, well, he's pretty torn up about the latest attack, he's working overtime and losing sleep and all sorts." said Ron,

"Oh dear." said Hermione,

"Yeah, he's been a bit off lately." said Neville,

"I hope Ginny's alright." she said,

"Yeah, I'm sure she is, she's strong." said Ron,

"Yes, she is." said Hermione.

She walked back to the office after lunch, no-one else was back yet, she had asked Tatyana to complete some papers less than a week earlier, she wondered if she had completed them yet, she decided to look into her desk drawer. Hermione went over to Tatyana's desk and opened her drawer, she saw a leather binder, she picked it up she see if the papers were underneath it, they weren't. She dropped the binder on the floor and the first page popped open; Hermione picked it up and was curious with what she saw. It was a newspaper clipping with the headline of: _Young Woman Receives Gash to Shoulder_. Hermione skimmed through the article and realised that it was the first girl to get stabbed in the series.

She turned the page to another newspaper clipping: _Hogwarts Graduate Receives Identical Injury_. It didn't take Hermione long to realise that this was the second girl. She turned the page and saw another clipping, and another, and another, and another, all from the past attacks, she then reached a page that said: _Holyhead Harpies Player is Lucky to be Alive._ It was Ginny's article, and then for the next girl on the next page and then the clipping from that morning's attack was on the last page. Hermione wondered what this was and why Tatyana owned, was it some sort of scrapbook that she had devised, could she be the stabber? Hermione thought that this office seemed too good to be true.

Hermione sat at her desk, waiting, tapping her nails against the leather binder, wanting an explanation. All six of them (Aisha, Breeana, Dalis, Freddie, Rupert and Tatyana) entered the office, Tatyana came up to her,

"I have those papers you asked for." said Tatyana, handing her some papers, Hermione took them and put them on her desk, Tatyana looked down and what Hermione's hand was resting on, "Where did you get that?" she asked,

"I think I'll be asking the questions." said Hermione,

"Where did you get that?" she asked again,

"Your desk drawer," she said,

"You had no right to-" she started,

"I thought I said that I'll ask the questions!" said Hermione, the other five stopped and stared, "Are you the stabber?" she asked more quietly,

"What?" she asked,

"Are you the stabber?" she asked again, this time more promptly,

"No!" she said insulted, "That's not what this is." she said, pointing at the binder. The others' jaws had dropped by this point,

"Then do you mind explaining yourself because I'm stumped." said Hermione,

"Alright," said Tatyana, "I'll tell you."

"Go on then." said Hermione,

"Fine, look, I'm not just a broom racer," she said, "I'm a private investigator, a family paid me to look into their daughter getting stabbed and that's just the work that I've put together."

"You see, I don't know what to think now, on one hand, you're not a murderer, on the other hand, you never really cared about house elves." said Hermione,

"Yes I do." she said, "That much hasn't changed."

"Really?" asked Hermione,

"Really." said Tatyana.

"Thank God." she said, standing up to hug her across the desk, "So, do you know anything?" she asked,

"No, nothing, I'm stumped, he doesn't leave a whole lot of evidence." she said,

"Oh, well that's still bad." said Hermione, sitting back down.

"Yes, I know." said Tatyana,

"Tatyana, you're a private investigator?" said Breeana,

"Yep." said Tatyana,

"Cool." said Rupert,

"So how many guys have you caught?" asked Aisha,

"A few." she said,

"Wow." said Freddie.

"What cases have you done?" asked Rupert,

"I'm not at liberty to say." she said,

"Oh come on?" said Freddie.

"No." said Tatyana,

"Please?" asked Aisha,

"No, It's private information." said Tatyana, they continued to talk and Hermione smiled at the friendly banter being passed around, but then she thought that th stabber was still at large, and that he could attack at any moment, her smile faded.


	25. Chapter 25

**Joyride**

Hermione soon got over the fact that Tatyana was a private investigator, what she hadn't quite gotten over was the fact that the stabber had claimed a new victim and that the authorities were no closer to finding him.

"Can you believe this?" asked Freddie who was storming into the S.P.E.W office,

"What?" asked Breeana,

"They're rebuilding it, I can't believe it, It's awful, they're awful, the whole damn thing is awful!" he yelled,

"Freddie, calm down, what's awful?" asked Hermione,

"They're rebuilding the slave trade centre after it exploded." he said, heavily panting,

"What?" asked Hermione,

"Exactly." said Freddie,

"How can they do that?" asked Aisha,

"So what's the plan, do we get to blow it up again?" he asked,

"No blowing stuff up." said Hermione, "I thought I said that already, Rupert looked disappointed,

"But we can't just sit on this, we have to do something." said Tatyana,

"No we don't, if we do then we'll just get arrested, Kingsley can't bail us out a second time." said Hermione,

"Come on Hermione, we can't let that place continue." said Tatyana,

"But we must, we'll just have to pass a law on it making it illegal in the future, but for now, we just have to live with it and work on the campaign that we're currently trying to pass." she said,

"But-" tried Freddie,

"No buts, I'm putting my foot down." said Hermione,

"Come off it." tried Rupert,

"No." she said bluntly, "There's nothing I can do without ending up in Azkaban."

"Well that's a risk that I'm willing to take." said Tatyana,

"Yeah, we can't let those poor house elves be put in a place like that." said Breeana.

"What, and you think I want that, you think that it doesn't break my heart that they're in there, living like that, being raised like that?" she yelled,

"No, but-" Aisha was cut off,

"Well it does, but if we get arrested then there'll be no S.P.E.W to save them anyway." she said.

"True." said Freddie.

"But still-"

"But nothing, we can start a protest, outside of the construction site, will that be good enough?" asked Hermione,

"It'll service for now." said Tatyana

"Thank you." said Hermione.

She got home that night to find Ron,

"What's wrong?" he asked, noticing her sad expression,

"Oh, nothing, they're, they're rebuilding the slave trade centre." she said,

"What, the gits!" he yelled,

"I know." she said,

"Well what are you doing to stop it?" he asked,

"We're staging a protest." she said,

"Too right, go down there and teach those pratts a lesson." he said,

"Yes, that's what I'm hoping." she said,

"Need some consoling?" he asked,

"A little." she said,

"Come here." he said, opening up his arms, she sat on the sofa next to him as he held her; she put the top of her head into his neck and rested, happy, yet still sad.

The next day, Hermione stood outside of the construction site of the house elf slave trade centre, it was filled with builder wizards wearing neon robes and there were cranes and vehicles about the place, holding a sign in her hand, she was marching around in a circle with Tatyana, Breeana, Aisha, Freddie, Rupert and Dalis who were also holding signs,

"Down with slave trade, down with slave trade…!" they yelled repeatedly, the builders ignored them and carried on and there were very few passers by so that muggles wouldn't see somewhere that was full of house elves.

"I don't think that this is going anywhere." said Tatyana,

"I have to agree, no-one is taking any notice." said Aisha,

"Come on, where's your team spirit?" she asked,

"I a stick of dynamite." said Rupert,

"Let it go Rupert, no blowing things up." said Hermione,

"But there has to be more we can do than this." said Freddie,

"There really isn't." said Hermione,

"Come on guys, let's keep going." said Breeana,

"There's the team spirit, come on, just stick with it." said Hermione.

By the end of the day, night had fallen and the S.P.E.W team were all tired,

"Okay, shall we just go home?" she asked,

"Please?" asked Rupert,

"Okay, let's go." she said, she spun on the spot, and again, and again and again, she stopped because she was getting dizzy,

"What are you doing?" asked Freddie,

"Oh, interpretive dance, yay." said Breeana, spinning around herself,

"I'm trying to apparate but why aren't I going anywhere?" she asked,

"They extended the charm so that if anyone else explodes the place, they'll be able to catch them , we'll have to walk a lot further and Breeana stop spinning!" said Aisha,

"Oh." said Breeana, standing still,

"Well screw that." said Freddie, he stuck his wand in the air and they suddenly saw headlights flashing in the distance and the form of a large, violently purple, triple-decker bus came up to them,

"You hailed the Knight Bus?" said Tatyana,

"Rather that than walking, I've been going around in a circle for nine straight hours." he said,

"Fair enough, I'm tired." said Rupert,

"Master needs his rest." said Dalis,

"Okay." said Hermione. The seven of them walked passed Stan Shunpike and onto the Knight Bus, it was filled with beds that contained no-one, it must have been a slow night, Stan handed them their tickets and the driver, Ernie Prang, zoomed off, they were all thrown backwards as it moved on, things jumped out of the way of it's presence and it moved with remarkable speed, it came to a stop and they were all thrown forwards,

"This is why I rarely take a ride in this thing." said Tatyana,

"Same here." said Hermione, and old lady walked down the stairs,

"Couldn't give me a hand with my luggage could you?" she asked, bringing a mountain of suitcases with her,

"Alrigh', gi's an 'and Ern'?" he said,

"Alright." said Ernie. He stepped out of the driver's seat and he and Stan grabbed some suitcases, the old lady walked out of the bus followed by them who were sorting out her luggage,

"Forgive me for this?" said Tatyana, standing up,

"Forgive you for what?" asked Hermione, Tatyana ran to the front of the bus, "Tatyana, what are you doing?" asked Hermione, before she knew it the bus was moving again but it was turning around and going the wrong way, Ernie and Stan were not yet on the bus, Tatyana was driving,

"I'm sorry." she said,

"Stop it, take us back." said Rupert,

"Yeah, what're you doing?" asked Aisha,

"You'll see." she said, she gained speed and Hermione tried to stand up and fell back down, Tatyana swerved a lot and gained more and more speed, Hermione stood up but was thrown against the wall,

"Don't you think you're driving a little recklessly?" called Hermione,

"Have you ever taken a ride in this thing? Believe me, I am _not_ driving recklessly!" she called, she gained more speed and swerved a lot more, Hermione crawled to the front,

"Tatyana, what are you doing?" she yelled,

"What we should have done when we found out." said Tatyana,

"Tatyana, no, tell me you're not doing what I think you're doing?" she asked of her,

"I'm afraid I might just be." she said.

"I told you to leave it!" she called,

"Well I disagree." she said,

"Please, stop!" she called,

"I can't Hermione, I'm sorry!" she called, Hermione stood up and clung on to some railings, she made it just in time to see out of the front window as the Knight Bus crashed through the gates to the slave trade centre construction site, builder wizards dived out of the way as Tatyana drove on and then crashed into the construction, right through a wall, destroying it, she drove on wit her momentum and crashed through the opposing wall, she reversed, turned and crashed through a side wall, she then drove back forwards and crashed through another part of the first wall and then out of the gates, some of which she dragged along with her before running over them.

"Why did you do that?" asked Hermione,

"I couldn't let it go on!" yelled Tatyana, speeding away,

"We could have done something better than this!" called Hermione,

"And that would have gotten us no-where.' said Tatyana,

"Okay, maybe that's true, but there had to be another way, a better way." she said,

"Oh like blowing it up." she said,

"How dare you throw that back in my face?" yelled Hermione,

"I don't care about jail." she said,

"But I care about the office getting shut down, from this moment on; I relieve you of your duties! You're fired!" she called, Tatyana braked and Hermione flew backwards, they were right next to Stan and Ernie who had been waiting for the bus to return, Tatyana opened the doors,

"Oi you, you're goin' down!" said Stan, Tatyana remained silent, she got out from the driver's seat and walked away,

"Hey, don' jus' walk off!" called Stan, she showed no sign of emotion, she just kept on walking away,

"Whoa." said Rupert, coming up to her with the rest of the office,

"I won't step out of line again." said Freddie,

"Well, she shouldn't have done that." said Hermione,

"Well you were a little harsh." said Aisha,

"Was I?' she asked,

"I'm sorry for speaking out of term, please don't fire me?" begged Aisha,

"I'm not going to." said Hermione,

"Isn't there something nicer to be done?" asked Breeana,

"Well, she deliberately disobeyed my orders." said Hermione, standing there, regretting her decision ever so slightly.


	26. Chapter 26

**Cleaning Code**

"So, you fired Tatyana Alison?" asked Ginny who was sitting on Hermione's patio furniture with Hermione and Demelza, who was visiting from college,

"Yes." said Hermione,

"Why?" asked Demelza,

"Because," said Hermione, "She disobeyed my orders, she took a joyride in the Knight Bus and then crashed it into a construction site." she explained,

"But wasn't that the construction site of the house elf slave trade centre, the place that you're strongly against?" asked Ginny,

"Yes," said Hermione,

"And isn't the only reason that they're rebuilding it because _you_ blew it up in the first place?" asked Demelza,

"Well, yes." said Hermione,

"So wasn't she acting nobly?" asked Ginny,

"It doesn't matter, I told her to go by it constructively and she didn't, she crashed a triple-decker bus into it." said Hermione,

"But what about her career?" asked Demelza,

"How will it affect her broom racing career?" asked Ginny,

"Well, that only pays a lot, but only per match, which isn't a lot in the long run." said Demelza,

"Well she has her private investigating career." said Hermione,

"What?" asked Ginny,

"Yeah, what?" asked Demelza,

"Oh, she's a private investigator; did I forget to mention that?" asked Hermione,

"Yeah." said Ginny,

"Wow, Tatyana Alison is a private investigator." said Demelza, "Cool, and she's already a terrific broom racer, this just adds to her awesomeness."

"Yes, but she still stole the Knight Bus!" said Hermione, feeling that she was unheard,

"Alright, alright, and that was wrong." said Ginny,

"You're damn straight it was wrong." said Hermione,

"But don't you think that you acted a little hastily?" asked Demelza,

"No," said Hermione, "Did I?" Ginny and Demelza looked at each other and then back at Hermione,

"Course not." said Ginny,

"Oh come on, what was that?" asked Hermione,

"What was what?" asked Demelza,

"That look you just gave each other." said Hermione the two turned to each other, "There it is again." she said,

"Look, we don't think that what you did was wrong, it's just…" started Ginny,

"You could have handled it…differently." said Demelza,

"You could have handled it less…hypocritical." said Ginny,

"Are you calling me a hypocrite?" asked Hermione,

"No, no," said Demelza, "…well yeah." she said,

"Oh my God…" she started,

"It's just that, you didn't lead a great example, you did blow up the place." said Ginny,

"I'm not meant to be setting an example, she's older than me." said Hermione,

"Yeah, but, you are the boss." said Demelza,

"I don't care, I told her not to do something, she shouldn't have done it, that's that." she said, Ginny and Demelza looked at each other again, "Oh like you're so perfect." said Hermione angrily.

Hermione walked into her office the next day, she saw the six desks in there and stared at the one desk that was empty, she soon moved passed it and sat at her own desk. Aisha, Freddie, Rupert, Dalis and Breeana were already there.

"Hey guys." she said, sitting at her desk, they remained silent and carried on with their work, Hermione sighed, "You can talk to me, I won't fire you!" she said,

"Oh no, she's getting angry, we're sorry ma'Am." said Rupert,

"Oh for the love of Merlin, be normal." she instructed,

"But that's the thing Hermione, it's not normal, Tatyana isn't here." said Aisha,

"Come on, this isn't any easier for me." she said, "Okay, what have you got on the law being passed tomorrow?" she asked,

"We haven't done much." said Breeana,

"What, why not, we've been doing this for months?" she asked,

"Well, the law was Tatyana's idea and she did most of the work." said Freddie, Hermione rolled her eyes,

"Of course she did." she said to herself, "Does anybody know where she keeps her notes?" she asked, they all shook their heads,

"No." said Rupert,

"Fine, I'll check." she said, she walked over to Tatyana's desk and started opening drawers, they were all empty, all of them. "Okay," she said, "Give me everything you've got and then I'll work on it tonight." she said, they nodded and Hermione went back to her desk and sighed again.

Hermione was writing later,

"Hey, Hermione, good news." said Aisha,

"Good, I could do with some." she said,

"_Witch Weekly _wants to interview you." she said,

"Oh, that _is_ good news." said Hermione,

"I know." said Aisha,

"When?" asked Hermione,

"About…now." said Aisha,

"Well thanks for the heads up." said Hermione,

"That was the heads up." she said,

"Okay, you guys keep working on this, I'll go down to the interview." she said.

Hermione arrived outside of the office of _Witch Weekly_, she walked in, she remembered that it was Ginny's favourite magazine and that whenever Hermione stayed in her room at the burrow, an issue was always near by. The office was filled with people on typewriters, mostly witch's but not all of them and Hermione sat down at the witch that was waving at her.

"Is this who I come to about my interview?" asked Hermione,

"If you're Hermione Granger, then yes." said the witch,

"Well, it's Hermione Weasley now," she said holding up her left hand to reveal her wedding ring, "But yes, I am she."

"Oh, you got married, good for you." she said

"So, what do you want to know about the S.P.E.W office?" asked Hermione. The witch ignored her,

"So, what's your favourite colour?" she asked,

"Um…red, I suppose, why?" she asked,

"Great," said the witch, scribbling down on a pad,

"And what's your best style tip?" she asked,

"This isn't about the law being passed is it?" asked Hermione,

"No, you're one of the most vastly achieving witches in the country." she said,

"Oh, well, okay." she said,

"Yes, you've achieved more in three years than most people would dream of, you went back to school, you got all of your N.E.W.T.s, you got your own office on your first day, passed a law before you started, passed another law by the end of the year and then your office got a big promotion, not to mention you caught Vineeta Khan which other Ministries have tried and failed in the past."

Although the interview was not what she was expecting, Hermione continued through it anyway, that night she returned to the S.P.E.W office whereas everyone else had left, she stayed to work on the files for the cleaning code that the house elves would now have to work to. After staying up until five in the morning, she was finally able to put the files on Kingsley's desk and go home.

After little sleep, Hermione arrived to work late so all of the workers were already there,

"So, have the votes started?" she asked,

"Yep." said Freddie,

"And..?" she asked,

"We don't know, we were going to wait for you before going to watch." said Breeana,

"Oh, well come on, let's go." she said.

The six of them walked to the floor of the voting and into the room that Hermione had been to once before, about a year earlier, of course at that point she was with Vineeta. Piles of letters were stacking up, each one contained a vote from the public whether they wanted the law to be passed, or whether they disagreed with it. There were wizards to count up the votes, which was for, which was against, they would pile them up and then chart them in a tally. Every so often, and owl would fly in with a vote and they'd add it to one of the piles, the voting period lasted from dawn until dawn.

By noon, their stack was winning and everybody seemed happy. More and more owls flew in with their vote.

By evening, they were tying, and then an owl flew in and the wizard added it to the bad pile, still about neck and neck though.

By nightfall, they were rapidly losing; their pile was significantly smaller than the other. More owls kept flying in though and each pile went up.

By midnight, they were neck and neck again, but their pile was going more and more up with each owl that arrived. Of course not all of them chose their one but they were coming out ahead.

By dawn they had gone up and down over the past six hours a lot, sometimes they were winning, sometimes they were losing and sometimes they were neck and neck. At that moment it was hard to tell who was in the lead, both of the piles were very similar, the wizards closed the voting time and began the final count. By the end, they had done and revealed that-

"The law has been passed." said one of the wizards,

"Yes, yes!" screamed Breeana,

"That's great." said Freddie,

"Yes it is." said Aisha,

"Awesome." said Rupert,

"Master thinks it is awesome, therefore it is awesome." said Dalis, Hermione was overwhelmed with happiness,

"Yes," she said, "Its amazing." and as she had stayed up all night the previous night and most of the night before that, she passed out and lay on the floor.


	27. Chapter 27

**Treasure**

Hermione sat under a shady tree in the forest with nothing but a book and her beaded bag for company. She hadn't been back to the forest for a long while, ever since she had shown it to Luna, and also, she hadn't seen Luna much since then either. She read to her hearts content and then found herself having finished the book, she shut it and stuffed it into her beaded bag, she stayed sitting and leaned her head back against the tree, enjoying her surroundings. Her head turned and she saw the tree that she had walked through to get to the forest, and, as she looked, someone else walked through it as well; Hermione saw that it was a woman, and the she turned and she saw that it was actually Luna,

"Oh, hello Luna." said Hermione, getting up, "What're you doing here?" she asked,

"Oh, I'm just out for a stroll." she said, looking as though she had wondered into the forest accidentally.

"I haven't seen you for a month, how have you been?" asked Hermione,

"I've been good, my book has been well received by audiences." she said,

"Well that's great." said Hermione,

"Thank you." said Luna,

"I've enjoyed my copy, I've just finished it now." said Hermione,

"Oh, I do hope that you enjoyed it." said Luna,

"I did." Hermione replied,

"Well that's good." said Luna,

"So, what's your reason for coming here?" asked Hermione,

"I wanted to explore." said Luna,

"Oh, well, we can do it together, come on." said Hermione,

"Oh, that's nice, we can do some catching up." said Luna,

"Yes." said Hermione, the two linked arms and walked through the forest.

"So, how's S.P.E.W been?" asked Luna as they strolled through the trees,

"Well, it's been quite good, we recently passed a new law." she said,

"Oh, that's fantastic." said Luna,

"Yeah, that part." said Hermione,

"I sense that you're holding out on me, but it seems to make you uncomfortable so I shan't ask." said Luna,

"No, it's alright." said Hermione,

"Oh, then what's wrong?" asked Luna,

"Well, I was forced to fire one of my employees." said Hermione,

"Oh dear, what was the reason?" asked Luna,

"She stole the Knight Bus against my orders." said Hermione,

"Oh, I see, what was the law that you passed?" asked Luna, changing the subject,

"We installed a cleaning code for owners of house elves to keep to with an annual inspection." said Hermione,

"That's good." said Luna,

"So Luna," said Hermione, "How often have you returned to this place?" asked Hermione,

"A fair bit, I find it as a great relaxer." she said,

"That's nice." said Hermione, "Received any interesting mail recently?" she asked a little concerned,

"No, why do you ask?" asked Luna,

"No reason." said Hermione, relieved.

"Have you got an interest in letters?" asked Luna,

"Why?" asked Hermione,

"Because you asked about my mail, are you a stamp collector, I hear that's common upon muggles." said Luna,

"Oh, no, I just like…interesting mail." Hermione lied.

"Oh, that's nice." said Luna,

"So, have you found anything interesting here?" asked Hermione,

"Depends what you classify as interesting." said Luna,

"Something that I wouldn't know." said Hermione,

"Oh, well, I found an undiscovered type of flower and I've planted the seeds in my back garden, they're turning out very nice." she said,

"Right." said Hermione,

"Most of all I just find this place fascinating." said Luna, "Everywhere you look is a new secret to be discovered."

"Yes, that's pretty great." said Hermione,

"Quite." said Luna; they came to a stop at a herd of thestrals,

"Hmm, I didn't know that they lived here." said Hermione,

"Neither did I, see what I mean, always something to discover." said Luna,

"Yes I do." Luna went up and amongst the thestrals, Hermione could tell that Luna was loving the forest and that that love was raising, however Hermione had craved it less and less, she still liked it but her want to be there was fading slightly.

Luna was enjoying the thestrals whereas Hermione sat under a tree, Hermione leaned back and suddenly she was falling down a flight of stairs, she was rolling downward and landed at the base with a _thud_.

"Hermione?" asked Luna, Hermione looked up the stairs that she had just fallen down, the entrance was through a large gap in the tree's roots to which Luna was looking through,

"Down here!" cried Hermione, she stood up as Luna crawled through the hole and walked down the stairs, it was very dark and dusty,

"What is this place?" she asked,

"I don't know." said Hermione,

"What's that?" asked Luna, gesturing the wall behind Hermione,

"What's what?" asked Hermione turning around to see a wooden door,

"That." said Luna,

"It's a door." said Hermione, she put her hand on the doorknob and twisted, it wouldn't open, "A locked door." she added,

"Well how do we get in?" asked Luna,

"This might work." she said pulling out her wand, "_Alohomora_." she said, the doorknob turned and the door creaked open.

When it was open fully, you could see the inside of a large, semi-circular room, the door was on the flat side. Hermione entered the room and upon that, the lights all turned on and the room was lit up,

"Wow." said Luna,

"I'll say." said Hermione, the room had four large doorways, all of which were extravagant, and in the centre of the room was the set up for a tea party

"This place is amazing." said Luna,

"Yes it is." said Hermione, the two of them sat down at the table and Luna reached over for the poker dotted tea pot and poured some steaming tea into her matching tea-cup, she picked up the saucer and drank,

"Ah, delicious." she said,

"Are you sure that you should do that?" asked Hermione,

"Why not?" asked Luna,

"Because it could be poisonous." said Hermione,

"But its so good." said Luna, Hermione reached for the tea pot and poured some in her own cup, she picked up the saucer and the cup and drank some tea, Luna was right, it was delicious.

"So," asked Hermione, "Do you want to know what's behind those four doors as much as I do?" she asked."

"I do." said Luna, she put her cup on her saucer and then put that on the table, she stood up and Hermione did exactly the same.

The two walked on to the first door on the left, they walked through the extravagant entrance way and walked into a circular room lined with a fine, red material. It was filled with clothes, wardrobes, chests of drawers, mannequins and more, all to do with fashion.

"Wow." said Luna again, walking amongst all of the old fashioned gowns, dresses, warriors attire and more,

"This stuff is amazing." said Hermione,

"Should we try some on?" asked Luna,

"I'm not sure." said Hermione,

"They're very beautiful." she said,

"Oh, why not?" said Hermione grabbing some clothes and Luna did the same.

Hermione and Luna stepped out of the wardrobes at the same time, when Hermione emerged she was in an old fashioned gown, it was made of fine silks with a built in corset with frills and lace, it was cream and came with a matching parasol and the entire ensemble looked quite stylish. Luna emerged wearing hoop earrings, a leather jacket with the sleeves cut off, a striped top, torn denim shorts, striped leggings and large, black boots,

"Wow, you look divine." said Luna,

"Thank you, and you look…beautiful." Hermione gritted through her teeth, the outfit actually didn't look entirely bad nut she didn't think that it was quite Luna's style.

"Shall we move on?" asked Luna,

"I think that we should," said Hermione, she stuffed their clothes into her beaded bag and they walked out of the room, they walked through the second door on the left and were brought into an identically built room, the contents however, was considerably different. It was filled with weapons; many of them, all different shapes and sizes, there were swords, axes, crossbows, bows and arrows, hammers, mallets, muskets, pistols, rifles, spears, javelins, cutlasses, shields, maces, daggers, knives and more, some big, some small, and all of them were displayed around the room,

"I get a violent vibe from this room." said Luna,

"Yes, me too." said Hermione,

"Shall we move on?" asked Luna,

"I think that we should." said Hermione.

They walked out of the room and in through the second door on the right, they walked into a room filled with shelves filled with books, many books, old books, new books, hard back, paperback, leather bound, spell books, story books, fact books, history books, so many books that it would make a book fan's, such as Hermione, mind explode. Hermione walked in and out of the books, picking them up, smelling them, opening them and taking them in, Hermione was certainly enjoying this room. She saw some books she's read, some she recognised, some she's heard of, some she owned and some that she had never heard of before. Hermione was in a book trance and by the time she snapped out of it, Luna had been watching her for twenty minutes,

"I'm sorry that you had to see that." said Hermione,

"Its okay." said Luna, "The next room?" she asked,

"If you would." said Hermione, she picked up her gown and walked out of the book room.

They then walked into the room on the far right, this room was the most shining of all, literally. It was filled with treasure, all kinds of golds, silvers and precious metals, coins, crowns, chests, jewellery, diamonds, gems, jewels and so much more riches it was hard to take in. Luna and Hermione soon found themselves jumping into the sea of money and rolling around in it.

When they were quite done, they had been rolling around for an hour,

"We should probably go now." said Hermione,

"Yes, we probably should." said Luna,

"Come on." said Hermione. The two of them walked to the door that they had entered into,

"The clothes." said Luna,

"Right, we should probably change them, good thinking." said Hermione.


	28. Chapter 28

**The Edge of the Blade**

Hermione was happy at her desk in the S.P.E.W office, she had just passed a new law and the office was doing even more successfully, Aisha and Breeana were currently working on an S.P.E.W mascot and Freddie, Rupert and Dalis were planning their next fundraiser. She looked over at Tatyana's empty desk and her happiness faded a little.

"There, all done." said Breeana, her and Aisha slamming a picture on her desk, it was a house elf, a fairly cute one, but with a T-shirt and badge, both that said _S.P.E.W_,

"What do you think?" asked Aisha,

"I like it." said Hermione, smiling,

"Yeah, he can make an appearance at our event, we could hire someone to wear a costume." said Rupert,

"Why do that when we have a cute house elf right here." said Breeana,

"Thank you Miss, Dalis likes her." said Dalis,

"So what have you got?" Hermione asked Freddie and Rupert,

"How about a charity broom race?" asked Freddie,

"Could use a bit more." said Hermione, the thought of a broom race led to thoughts of Tatyana.

"Hmm, a house elf on a broom." Aisha contemplated,

"No, no, Dalis afraid of heights." said Dalis,

"Aw, sorry Dalis." said Breeana,

"But a guy dressed as a house elf on a broom is alright." said Rupert,

"Great, you can wear the suit then." said Hermione,

"Wait, what?" asked Rupert, the rest of them laughed,

"Ha, funny." said Freddie,

"Can't wait to see that." said Aisha,

"But, but, but…" said Rupert,

"Don't worry, I'm just messing with you." said Hermione, "Sort of." she added. The giggling soon ended, "Right," said Hermione, "I'm off to lunch." she said, "See you."

"Bye." they said, waving as Hermione walked out of the office.

Hermione went down the lift to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, she walked down the corridor and peaked into a room, she saw Harry in there, pondering, surrounded by many other aurors, she felt sorry for him, he looked so stumped, he had no idea who the stabber was and was no closer to catching him to when the attacks began. She walked on to the room that they usually ate lunch together, only Ron was in there,

"No Neville today then?" she asked,

"No, he's off with Hannah." said Ron,

"Oh, that's nice." she said, she sat down next to him and gave him a kiss,

"You know, I feel like we've barely seen each other in ages." said Ron,

"I know, I've been really busy with my campaign." said Hermione, "But that's over now." she said, Ron kissed her again more passionately,

"You know," he said, "It's very rare that we get to be all on our own in here." he said,

"Yes it is." said Hermione.

Hermione emerged from the room an hour later, her hair messed up and her clothes all creased,

"Well, see you." she said, trotting away, making sure no-one was watching. She went back to the lift and up to the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and walked back into her office were Freddie, Rupert, Dalis, Breeana and Aisha already were, "Hello." she said,

"Hello." they all said, she sat down awkwardly and carried on with paperwork.

Hermione was the last one left in the office; she was completing work on the fundraiser that Rupert couldn't finish because apparently he had a 'hot date' and didn't want to pass up a chance to 'get so in there' and the rest of them had finished their work, so Hermione politely agreed to finish it for him, of course, the thoughts of broom racing made her think suddenly of Tatyana, the moment passed and she had an odder feeling, like she was being watched, that faded too and she was back to Tatyana as a knock came at the door,

"Come in!" Hermione exclaimed, then door opened and someone that Hermione didn't expect to see entered her office: Tatyana.

"Hi Hermione." she said,

"What are you doing here?" asked Hermione coldly,

"To grovel." said Tatyana,

"What?" asked Hermione.

"I want my job back." said Tatyana,

"You what, no." said Hermione, angrily,

"Look, I'm sorry for what I did, I did some thinking and you were right, I should have gone about it more constructively." said Tatyana,

"Yes, you should have, doesn't mean I forgive you." said Hermione,

"Then how about this, I'm sorry." she said,

"It'll take more than that." said Hermione,

"Please, I really loved this job, it's the best I ever had." said Tatyana,

"What about your two other careers, are they not sufficient enough?" asked Hermione,

"Look, I want to help house elves, everything that I said when I first stepped into this office was true, would I have done what I did if it wasn't?" she asked,

"Look, I don't care, you stole the Knight Bus, I told you that we could have done something better, I told you not to do it, I asked you to stop but you just pressed harder on the accelerator, so I'm sorry if a small 'I'm sorry' doesn't quite do it for me!" said Hermione,

"But I am very sorry." tried Tatyana,

"Save it," said Hermione, "I'd like you to leave now please?" she asked of her,

"But-" she was cut off,

"Leave!" said Hermione in a raised voice,

"Fine." said Tatyana, "Fine." she said, she walked out of the door, closed it behind her and Hermione heard her footsteps go down the corridor.

"I thought she'd never leave." said an eerie voice that wasn't Hermione's,

"Who's there?" she asked, freaked out,

"Oh, just little me." said a man emerging from under Rupert's desk, he held a large knife in his right hand, "I was going to do this before she walked in but I was interrupted, aw well, never mind, where were we?" he asked, locking the office door with his free hand

"Who are you?" asked Hermione,

"What, so you don't even recognise me?" asked the man, Hermione shook her head, "Well we've only met twice before," he said, "Once was in an alley way that you apparated out of, but the first time, well, that was in this very room." he said,

"What are you talking about?" asked Hermione,

"I really needed that job, you knew that, I told you, but you, you turned me away." he said. It was then that Hermione recognised him, he was Edwin Manning, the second person to have interviewed for the S.P.E.W office, Hermione had picked up a creepy vibe from him _then_ too.

"Look Edwin, I'm sorry about that," she said, scared out of her mind,

"No you're not, you're lying, I can see it in your eyes," he said, "I tried to get back at you once, but I ended up getting the wrong girl, as I understand it she was a Holyhead Harpies player." he said, he was the man who stabbed Ginny and all of those other women, "So I hypnotized that Grammar lad and gave him the knife, lucky I was wearing my gloves, otherwise they would have found _my_ finger prints and I couldn't have that now could I?" he said,

"You're a sick man Manning." said Hermione,

"Hypnosis." he said, ignoring her, "It's a very tricky magic to master but I did it." he pulled a medallion from his pocket and started swinging it about, from side to side,

"_Confringo_!" cried Hermione and the medallion exploded,

"Oh no, that was my best one, ah well, never mind." he said, he ran at her, knife at the ready, Hermione ran in front of her desk, turned around so her back faced the door and backed up slowly, he climbed onto the desk, knife still at the ready and jumped off of it to be facing her, she backed up and he advanced,

"_Expelliarmus_." she said, the knife flew from his grip and landed so that the blade stuck into Freddie's desk,

"You'll regret that." he said, pulling out his own wand, "_Petrificus Totalus_." he said,

"_Protego_!" Hermione came back with casting an invisible shield from her wand, his spell bounced off of it,

"_Avada Kedavra_!" he tried, Hermione ducked and quickly fired,

"_Rictusempra_!" she yelled, he dodged it and she was backing down under Rupert's desk,

"_Incarcerous_." he fired, the spell flew over the desk, Hermione peaked up for a second to fire a spell,

"_Stupefy_!" she yelled, she ducked back down and heard him quickly say,

"_Protego_." she assumed that the curse had been dodged, she popped up to fire a spell,

"_Immobulus._" she said at the same time that he fired,

"_Crucio_!" she ducked and the spell skimmed the top of her head just as hers skimmed his side, "Enough games, I'm getting tired of this." he said,

"You killed all of those girls," said Hermione from under the desk, "Do you not feel any remorse, any sense of sorrow?" she asked,

"No, they all deserved it, each and every one of them." he said, Hermione now stood up, unafraid, she was no longer scared, she was angry, she jumped onto and over the desk and tackled him, they were both on the floor struggling, he pulled on Hermione's neck and she bit his arm and head butted his chin causing him to slam his head on the desk, Hermione turned around and he slapped her around the face, "Stupid girl." he said, he lifted his knees and kicked her in the back so that she rolled off of him, he stood up and grabbed the handle of his knife, pulling it from the desk, she sat on the floor and he dived for her with the knife.

He was now on top of her, both hands on the handle, ready to stab, Hermione's hands were holding the part where the handle met the blade, pushing it away from her chest, they both gave it their full force, he continued to plunge the blade into Hermione's heart and Hermione was determined to stop him, she could only move the top half of her body as he was on her legs, all she could do was push the blade, stopping him from getting it any further, she saw the relish in his eyes, this was a truly evil person. There was a knock at the door,

"Look, Hermione, I know that you don't want to see me but I really need to talk to you." came Tatyana's voice from the other side of the door, Hermione tried to answer her but Manning now had one hand on the knife and the other compressing Hermione's throat, she opened her mouth but no words came out, she used this to her advantage, she used the fact that she had two hands on the knife and he only had one, she pushed with all of her force and the handle hit him in the face, he rolled off of her,

"HELP!" yelled Hermione,

"Hermione?" cried Tatyana,

"HELP!" Hermione yelled again, Manning rolled back on top of her and made for the stab, just then, the door burst open at the kick of Tatyana,

"Oi, _Stupefy_!" cried Tatyana, he flew off of Hermione and was rammed into her desk, "Are you okay?" asked Tatyana,

"Now, thank you." she said, standing up

"_Expelliarmus, Expelliarmus_." they were caught off guard as Manning got to his feet, "Now, I'd planned to kill the bushy one, but I have no problem with a double event, the question is, which one of you irritating, slippery little bitches should I kill first?" he asked, Tatyana punched him in the face, causing him to drop his knife and his wand, "Thanks for making it easy." he said, she then kicked him in the stomach and he slapped her face and then backhanded her, Hermione stood, frozen to the spot, watching, he then grew the upper hand and had a grip with both hands around Tatyana's throat, he slammed her back against the wall and continued to strangle,

"Do…something." Tatyana choked, Hermione picked up his knife and threw it, the next thing that happened Hermione couldn't have predicted, he let go of Tatyana, well, one hand did, the other was on the floor because Hermione had just accidentally severed it,

"That was my good stabbing hand." he complained, picking his knife with his left hand and advancing on Hermione with it, he lifted it, Hermione flinched, he was going to stab and then…Tatyana smashed Aisha's mug around his head from behind and he passed out.

"Oh my God." said Hermione catching her breath,

"Are you alright?" asked Tatyana,

"I am now, thanks." she said offering her hand, Tatyana shook, "By the way, if it wasn't clear, if you want your job back, it's yours." said Hermione,

"Thank you." said Tatyana, "_Incarcerous_." she said once picking up her wand and aiming it at Manning, "Now, shall we tell the aurors that we have the stabber unconscious in our office?" asked Tatyana,

"Probably." said Hermione.


	29. Chapter 29

**A Friend's Anger**

"So he's on top of me, holding the knife and then Tatyana bursts in, stuns him and then he starts strangling her and I throw the knife and his hand is cut off, and then, he pulled the knife on me so Tatyana smashed a mug around his head, tied him up and we turned him in." said Hermione in the S.P.E.W office to her workers,

"Oh," said Aisha, "I really liked that mug."

"So," said Freddie, "His hand was right over there?" he asked, pointing at the spot where the severed hand had laid.

"Yep." said Tatyana,

"Cool." said Rupert,

"Ew." said Breeana,

"And that's how Tatyana got her job back?" asked Aisha,

"Yes, it is." said Hermione,

"So who was it exactly?" asked Rupert,

"Edwin Manning." said Hermione,

"Who?" asked Breeana,

"Oh, I met him once, it's who Hermione interviewed after hiring me." said Tatyana,

"So, all this just because he didn't get a job?" asked Freddie,

"Pretty much." said Hermione,

"Although," said Tatyana, "Speaking of getting the job done, the family that hired me to catch him gave me the money."

"Oh good, what'll you do with it?" asked Aisha,

"I already donated it to S.P.E.W." she said,

"Really?" asked Hermione,

"Yes." said Tatyana,

"Oh, thank you." she said,

"My pleasure." said Tatyana,

"Oh, and, thank you also for saving my life." said Hermione casually,

"And thank you for saving mine." said Tatyana,

"Oh, I'm so glad that you to have made up." said Breeana,

"Breeana, are you crying?" asked Rupert,

"I-I'm just s-so gl-glad that you're b-back a-and everyone's h-happy again." said Breeana, welling up,

"Dear Lord." Aisha muttered,

"I think that we should celebrate." said Rupert, pulling some firewhiskey from his desk drawer,

"Where did you get that from?" asked Freddie,

"I always keep a bottle of alcohol on me." said Rupert,

"Well, usually I'd look into that, but, today, who cares?" said Hermione, he also pulled out seven glasses and poured some into each one and gave one to Hermione, Tatyana, Freddie, Breeana, Dalis, Aisha and himself,

"Cheers." they said in unison around Rupert's desk, clinking there glasses and taking a sip each,

"Yay for master." said Dalis.

"Thanks for this Rupert, and to think, this came from the desk that the stabber was hiding under." said Hermione,

"What?" asked Rupert,

"Oh, the stabber was hiding under your desk." said Hermione, he looked freaked out but the others just laughed.

Hermione walked up to the burrow with Ron at her side, Bill and Fleur had called them all in because apparently they had some big news,

"So what do you suppose they have to say?" asked Ron,

"I don't know." said Hermione, "We'll have to wait and see."

"Well it can't be any more impressive than you battling off the stabber and winning." said Ron, proud of her; she had told her friends and family about the story,

"Well, Tatyana did a lot of the work." said Hermione,

"Yeah, but _you_ sliced his hand off." said Ron,

"Well, it wasn't a slice, it was more of a…lucky shot." said Hermione,

"Whatever, I'm married to a sexy criminal catcher." said Ron,

"Yes, yes you are." she said jokingly, she gave him a kiss and they walked into the burrow's kitchen.

They were in there with Harry, Ginny, George, Angelina, Percy, Audrey, baby Victoire and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Bill and Fleur stood up at the front and Hermione couldn't help notice that it looked like Fleur had put on a bit of weight,

"Zank you all for coming 'ere tonight." said Fleur,

"So what is it that you want to tell us?" asked Mrs. Weasley,

"Mum, wait." said Bill,

"Well," Fleur continued, "Zee reason zat we 'ave gazzered you all 'ere is because," she paused, "…I'm pregnant" she said, everyone paused, and Mrs. Weasley was the first to speak,

"Well that's fantastic." she said,

"Well done son." said Mr. Weasley,

"What, another one?" said George,

"Yes another one." said Bill,

"Do you know the gender?" asked Ginny,

"No, not yet." said Fleur,

"Oh, we simply must celebrate." said Mrs. Weasley pulling out the butterbeer and pouring it into tankards. They drank and laughed around, Hermione pulled Ginny aside from the festivities,

"Look, Ginny, I'd just like to apologise for you getting attacked." said Hermione,

"What, that's crazy it's not your fault." said Ginny,

"Yes," she said, "It is,"

"What do you mean?" asked Ginny,

"Well," Hermione started, "I turned down Manning for a job and he came to my house, it was dark, he saw a woman leaving and he assumed-"

"That you were me?" asked Ginny,

"Yes," said Hermione, "So I'm really, really sorry." said Hermione,

"No, no, no, if that hadn't have happened then he wouldn't have attacked you in your office and then that creep would still be on the loose." said Ginny, she hugged Hermione,

"Thank you." she said,

"No more about it." said Ginny,

"So how's the Quidditch?" asked Hermione, changing the subject,

"Well, the final is coming up and we've been training extra hard." said Ginny,

"Wow, I can't believe that your team is in the final two years running." said Hermione,

"I can, we're pretty amazing." said Ginny smiling, "You'll be at the game, yeah?" asked Ginny,

"Of course." said Hermione.

"And how're things in the spew office?" asked Ginny,

"S.P.E.W," Hermione corrected, "And it's doing great, I'm a lot happier now that Tatyana's back." she said,

"Well yeah." said Ginny,

"Yes." said Hermione,

"So can you believe that Fleur is popping out another one?" asked Ginny,

"Well," said Hermione, "I wouldn't word it quite like that but no." she said,

"I hope it's a girl." said Ginny,

'Another girl?" asked Hermione,

"Yes," said Ginny, "I grew up with six brothers so I'll be damned if the next generation of Weasley's are a bunch of boys."

"Fair enough." said Hermione,

"Yes, it is." said Ginny.

They joined back in with the festivities and had fun, Hermione saw Harry look sad and pace into the living room, Hermione followed him in,

"Something the matter?" asked Hermione,

"It's just, I can't believe that they're not going to punish that creep properly." he said,

"Who, Manning?" she asked,

"Yes." he nodded,

"Well, they gave him a life sentence, no trial." said Hermione, "That's pretty good,

"But it's not enough!" Harry exclaimed angrily and briefly punching the air,

"Look, he's in Azkaban now, with one hand, and he's not going to be attacking anyone." said Hermione,

"But he needs to be punished, he killed all of those girls, he attacked the love of my life and all he gets is a measly life sentence." said Harry,

"What are you saying, that he should be executed?" asked Hermione,

"He would deserve it." said Harry,

"Maybe so, but still, Harry-" tried Hermione, he was red in the face with white-hot rage, he gave a scream, pick up a vase and through it across the room, causing it to smash against the wall,

"What's going on in here?" asked Ginny entering the room,

"Harry's a bit…on edge." said Hermione,

"Not again, Harry, he's locked up." said Ginny,

"But he-" tried Harry,

"Harry," said Hermione, "I think that you need some anger management."

"I agree." said Ginny,

"No, I-I'm fine." he said,

"Harry, you're not, you haven't been for a long time." said Ginny, "I think you need some help."

"Ginny, please-" said Harry,

"No, Harry, listen to me, I really think that you could benefit from some professional help." said Ginny,

"I'm not that angry." he said,

"You threw a vase across a room." said Ginny,

"Well I think I've earned the right to be angry when my girlfriend gets stabbed." he said,

"But it's not just that Harry." said Hermione, "You've always been a little, temperamental."

"Okay." he said,

"So you'll do it?" asked Ginny,

"Yes, yes I'll go to anger management." said Harry,

"Thank you." said Ginny, hugging him.


	30. Chapter 30

**Through the Barriers**

Harry had gone to his first anger management class and Ginny helped him through it,

"I'm just worried about him." she said in Hermione's garden along with Hermione and Demelza,

"I'm sure he'll be fine." said Hermione,

"I know, I know." said Ginny,

"So stop worrying." said Demelza,

"I'll try." said Ginny,

"How come Luna's not here?" asked Demelza,

"I don't know," said Ginny, "Where is she anyway?"

"Probably at home." said Hermione,

"We should go and get her, we haven't hung out as the four of us since she got back." said Ginny,

"Yeah, we should," said Demelza,

"Okay, come on then." said Hermione, the three of them dissapparated.

They appeared outside of Luna's house, it looked like a rook with kites being flown and many bushes surrounding it filled with bizarre fruits such as dirigible plums. Demelza grabbed the knocker and pounded it against the door, no-one answered, Demelza knocked again, no-one answered, she grabbed the handle and opened the door,

"That's breaking and entering." said Hermione,

"Who's breaking, it's open." she said, walking into the house,

"Luna won't mind." said Ginny, following on,

"Hello? Luna? Mr. Lovegood? Anybody home?" called Demelza,

"I don't think that they're in." said Ginny, Hermione looked down at the floor to see that on the door mat there was an envelope, one with no wax seal,

"Oh no." she said,

"What, what is it?" asked Ginny, Hermione pointed at the envelope,

"That." she said,

"It's just a letter." said Demelza,

'That's not just any letter, it's the same kind that I received." said Hermione,

"Are you sure?" asked Demelza,

"Yes." said Hermione,

"Maybe we should open it just in case." said Ginny, Hermione bent down and picked it up, she tore it open and pulled out, not parchment, but paper, and written upon it was:

_THE NEXT TIME YOU ENTER OUR FOREST: DEATH_

"What does it say?" asked Ginny,

"'The next time you enter our forest: death.'" Hermione recited,

"Oh my God, has Luna been going to the forest?" asked Demelza,

"She said that it wasn't often." said Hermione,

"Well apparently she lied." said Demelza,

"No, Luna doesn't lie." said Ginny,

"That's the forest, that's what it does to you." said Hermione, "Believe me, I should know."

"Merlin's beard, is she there right now?" asked Demelza,

"Would you want to risk it?" asked Hermione,

"We have to go and save her." said Ginny,

"Well come on then, let's get going." said Demelza, Hermione took their hands and apparated them both.

They were suddenly in the forest that contained Demelza's college, Hermione pulled out her compass and the three of them followed it to the tree engraved: _Patriam__Omnium__Magica_.

"What does that mean?" asked Ginny,

"I don't know something Latin." said Hermione, she walked through it and was followed by Ginny and Demelza and came out of the tree engraved: _Cum__Redeo__Domum__Meam_ and into the forest,

"Wow." said Ginny,

"Yeah wow." said Demelza,

"I know." said Hermione,

"And what does that mean?" asked Ginny,

"I don't know, something else Latin." said Hermione,

"So where do we find Luna?" asked Demelza,

"I'm not sure, but I have a hunch, follow me." said Hermione, she led the two of them deep within the forest until they came across a herd of thestrals, "This is it." said Hermione, she went over to a tree with a large gap in the roots, "Through here." she crawled through and walked down a flight of stairs,

"There's stairs under a tree?" said Ginny, climbing through,

"They couldn't have had a nicer entrance, huh?" asked Demelza, they all walked down to the door, it was open and they walked into the semi-circular room,

"What're through those four doors?" asked Ginny,

"Not now, we have to find Luna." said Hermione,

"I'm guessing that that wasn't there before." said Demelza, gesturing the huge, door-seized gap in the wall,

"No, no it wasn't." said Hermione, the three of them walked through it and were faced with a door,

"_Alohomora_." said Ginny and the door popped open.

They walked into a room; there was a door on the other side,

"Well," said Demelza, "Seems simple enough." she walked forwards and suddenly ten dementors flew down from the ceiling, they all gave a quick scream, they turned around but the door behind them closed itself and wouldn't open again, no matter how much they tried. All ten of them pulled their hoods down and one of them began to suck, Ginny's face was being suck, Hermione thought of Ron,

"_Expecto Patronum_." said Hermione, a silver otter came from her wand and the dementor backed off and the otter dissolved.

"_EXPECTO PATRONUM_!" all three of them yelled in unison, a silver otter, horse and bat appeared and flew at the dementors, the horse charged, the otter swam around them and the bat flew through them., the dementors were soon obliterated and the door on the other side of the room opened.

The three of them walked across the room and through the door which closed itself behind them, the room had a dirty great acromantula in it, it's pincers bearing and snipping together,

"_Stupefy_." tried Demelza; it moved a little backwards but had little effect,

"_Reducto_!" cried Ginny, one of its pincers flew off and it looked angrier, it charged at them,

"_Petrificus Totalus_." Hermione tried, it had no affect, she then thought '_Levicorpus_' and the giant spider was lifted by two of it's eight legs into the air and dangled upside down, Hermione kept him there,

"_Aguamenti_." said Ginny, a gush of water left her wand and filled the spider's mouth, it eventually fell to the floor, dead and drowned,

"Wow." said Demelza, the door at the other side of the room creaked open and the three of them walked across the room and through it.

The door immediately closed itself behind them, this was filled with small, ghostly, one-legged creatures hopping along and carrying lanterns, they emitted a groan,

"Hinkypunks." Hermione established, there were four of them, one came up to them and started beating Ginny's leg with a lantern,

"Oi, short stuff." said Demelza, she kicked it, but that just made it turn it's lantern upon her,

"_Lumos_." said Hermione, a light came from the tip of her wand, the hinkypunk stopped and turned to the light, it soon turned entranced, almost hypnotized, "_Stupefy_." said Hermione, the thing flew back, unconscious. The others did this to the other hinkypunks and soon they were all unconscious, they door on the other side opened and the three girls walked through it.

The door again closed itself behind them and they were faced with about thirty inferi,

"Oh God." said Demelza,

"_Incendio_." said Hermione, firing flames from her wand,

"_Incendio_." said Demelza,

"_Incendio_." Ginny copied, they kept them at bay but some sneaked around the flames, they soon started firing jets at individuals,

"_Incendio, Lacamum Inflammare, Incendio…_" said Hermione, each one walked into the blaze and soon enough they were faced with nothing but a pile of ashes on the floor,

"That was close." said Demelza,

"Yes it was." said Hermione,

"Well come on." said Ginny, noting the open door at the other side of the room, they walked through it and it closed behind them.

They were now faced with a huge dragon, more specifically a Hebridean Black with its dark, rough scales, ridges along its back, and a tail tipped with an arrow shaped spike, it looked at them, roared and breathed fire, they all dived to avoid it,

"Do you know how to slay a dragon?" asked Ginny,

"We want to knock it out, not kill it!" said Hermione,

"Either way, How do we stop it?" asked Demelza, it breathed fire again and they dived to avoid it again,

"I don't know." said Hermione,

"_Petrificus Totalus_!" Ginny screeched, it had no affect upon the dragon,

"I don't think it worked1" said Hermione,

"Oh, ya think." said Ginny sarcastically,

"Try it more powerfully!" suggested Demelza,

"_Petrificus Totalus Maxim_!" yelled Hermione, the dragon looked woozy for a second but only for a second, it breathed fire again and they rolled to dodge,

"All together." said Ginny,

"Good plan." said Demelza,

"_Petrificus Totalus Maxima_!" the three of them yelled in unison, the dragon went stiff and fell down, the door opened and the three ran over to it, the dragon got up again so they ran through the door and shut it behind them, it locked itself.

"Where are we now?" asked Ginny,

"I'm not sure but I think it's a cellar." said Hermione; they were in a wooden room with wooden stairs that led up to a trap door, Hermione looked to the right and saw a pile of bones, spines, legs, arms, fingers, skulls and more, none of them moved and the trap door creaked open…


	31. Chapter 31

**Witch's Coven**

"I told you that we had no ambrosia." said a high pitched, hollow voice, "There's nothing down in this basement except for, oh, hello." said the voice upon the owner seeing Hermione, Ginny and Demelza all standing there, the person walked down the stairs of the basement, it was a woman, a tall thin woman with a wrinkled face with a green tinge and a long nose, she wore a robe, a shall and a tall, pointed, witches hat, and from that came, thin, straw-like, grey hair, she was a hag (and a very ugly one),

"What is it?" came a croaking voice from upstairs,

"Three little girlies, fresh as daisies." said the hag in front of them,

"Well bring the little darlings up to us then?" asked the deep, croaking voice,

"Tell me?" said the hag, now speaking directly to Hermione, Demelza and Ginny, "How did you get passed our defences?"

"We fought our way through." said Hermione, plucking up the courage to talk,

"Well, come with us." said the hag, "Very impressive by the way." she gave a hollow cackle and snapped her fingers, the next thing they knew, the three of them had their hands cuffed behind their backs, "Come on." she said,

"Who are you?" asked Ginny,

"Who are we, you'll soon see." she said, she grabbed a hand of each one of them and pulled them backwards up the stairs of the basement.

"What gives you the righ to-?" tried Demelza, the hag slapped her around the face,

"Silly girl, no talking." she said in an insane happiness, they were brought through the trapdoor and stepped onto the ground floor. They were now standing in a room with a black marble floor and stone walls with badly built shelves filled with bottles and cages and drawers that looked like they could collapse at any moment. There were a set of different size swords on one part of the wall and up the stairs to the higher platform, there was a cauldron and behind that there were two more hags, one was short, squat, fat and has patches of curly hair but was mostly bald, she had long, pointed fingernails and wore a corset to little effect, her face was stretched, wrinkled and ugly. The other one looked younger than the other two hags, but she was ugly nonetheless, she wore a bandana which pulled back her platted hair, she wore a black gown and had a downward pointed nose with defined wrinkles and she had a gaze that could cut glass. Of course behind the two of them and the other hag who walked up to join them, was a girl chained to the wall: Luna. She had a shackle around her ankles and wrists, claming her to the wall,

"Hello Hermione, Ginny, Demmy." she said still happily, Hermione turned her head to see a large front door, but she wouldn't go through it, not with Luna chained up in there, they had come there to rescue her and that's what they were going to do,

"I thought we told you not to talk." said the fat hag who was the source of the croaking voice,

"So, what brings you to our lair?" said the young, middle witch, her voice was simply filled with anger and hatred,

"We've come to rescue our friend." said Hermione,

"You can't, she's ours now." said the hag,

"Who are you?" asked Demelza,

"Oh, how rude of me not to introduce myself," she said, "Well, this is Sister Timore," she said gesturing the tall hag, "This is Sister Cruentum," she said gesturing the fat hag, "And me, well, I'm Sister Metuenda." she said, "And who might you be?"

"I'm Hermione and this is Ginny and this is Demelza." said Hermione, "And that is our friend Luna Lovegood." said Hermione,

"And what do you mean that she's yours?" asked Ginny,

"Well, strictly speaking she belongs to the forest." said Sister Timore,

"How?" asked Hermione,

"Well, you see," said Sister Cruentum, "That's what we do, we draw people in, they can't help come back can they? This place is great. They fall in love with the forest, and when you fall in love with the forest, you belong to the forest."

"We were placed here as punishment you see." said Sister Metuenda, "We can only eat things that are from the forest, we're bound so by a charm, so we get a good juicy human to belong to it, and then we can have a good meal, we did have you for that, but then you brought this little blonde one into the picture, why, she just loved this place at first sight, been here at least once a day since she found out, you took some convincing, but _her_, she practically belonged to the forest for years but never, ever knew."

"Let her go!" said Hermione,

"Who will stop us, you, in your cuffs?" asked Sister Timore,

"If you want to lure us in then why did you send those notes?" asked Hermione,

"Yeah?" asked Ginny,

"What notes, we never sent any notes." said Sister Cruentum,

"Wait a second, you're the witch that I saw fly passed the moon on Halloween night." said Hermione,

"Oh yes, that was me, I wanted to check out my next meal, as it happens, you weren't my meal after all." said Sister Metuenda, Hermione got a grip on the leather straps of her handcuffs and slowly started to undo them, out of the sight of the hags.

"So tell me, what do you plan to do with us three?" asked Hermione,

"Well, we'll probably just chop you up and feed you to the dragon." said Sister Cruentum,

"Well, what if we escape and defeat you?" asked Hermione,

"How would you go about doing that?" asked Sister Timore,

"Yes, how Hermione?" asked Demelza,

"Like this." she said, her cuffs fell to the floor and she retrieved her wand in a flash, "_Reducto, Reducto, Reducto_." she said, Demelza and Ginny's cuffs fell off as well as Luna's shackles so she fell to the floor and stood up,

"How dare you?" asked Sister Metuenda,

"Again," said Hermione, "Like this, _Petrificus Totalus_!" she yelled and the curse flew at the hags but they all ducked to avoid it, in the confusion, Luna ran down the stairs and joined the three of them,

"Thank you Hermione." she said, Sister Timore and Sister Cruentum walked down the stairs together, Ginny and Demelza took Sister Cruentum and Luna and Hermione took on Sister Timore,

'You've made me angry." said Demelza, "And you don't want to see me angry." she shot flames from her hands and Sister Cruentum shot flames from her finger, this was because Demelza had a relative who was a veela which meant that when she got extremely angry, she could shoot fire from her hands, the two flames clashed magnificently, Demelza leaning forward and using two hands and Sister Cruentum standing straight and using only one finger,

"_Stupefy_." said Hermione, Sister Timore dodged it, "_Rictusempra_." she said, Sister Timore dodged it again,

"_Petrificus Totalus_." tried Luna, but she dodged it and gave an awful cackle, a glowing orange lit up her ugly face thanks to the clash of fire next to them,

"_Immobulus, Petrificus Totalus, Stupefy, Expelliarmus, Rictusempra, Depulso_!" Hermione tried, she dodged them all, she looked briefly to her left and saw that the flame fight was still going with Demelza looking determined and Sister Cruentum laughing at her which simply made Demelza angrier, she looked back at her own opponent.

"You're not very good at this, are you?" asked Sister Timore,

"_Expelliarmus_." tried Luna, it failed and Hermione used a spur of the moment spell,

"_Serpensortia_!" she screamed and a massive cobra came from her wand, it slithered up Sister Timore and but her face, blood poured out and she fell on the floor receiving many bites and injuries, she soon stopped struggling and lay still on the floor, her blood pouring and the snake evaporated, Sister Timore was left without a face. Sister Metuenda gave a tearful screech.

Sister Cruentum laughed more at Demelza, Demelza then grew very angry and her flames grew more and more until they engulfed her flames and then spiraled and engulfed Sister Cruentum, she ran around on fire and then fell to the floor as a burning body that soon became a large pile of ashes.

"NOOOOOO!" yelled Sister Metuenda, "You'll pay for this!" she said angrily,

"How?" asked Ginny, tauntingly, the hag gave a grimace and flew down with a pair of tweezers, stole some of Demelza's hair and flew back up,

"I assume that you all know what this is?" she asked, pulling a straw doll with a metal bead on its head from out of her pocket, a voodoo doll. She added the hairs into the metal; soon Demelza started walking around,

"I'm not doing that." she said,

"Its voodoo." said Hermione, Demelza then grabbed a sword from the wall and drew it out in her hand as Sister Metuenda maneuvered the doll,

"I can't stop." she said,

"And you won't be able to." said Hermione sadly. Demelza swung the sword at them and they ducked, Hermione drew a sword from the wall and crossed blades with Demelza,

"I don't want to hurt you." said Demelza as the two fought,

"Nor I you, but you can't help it." said Hermione. The training from Captain Huffman had paid off; she was fighting well against Demelza, their blades clashed and there was lots of dodging and blocking a hitting and clashing and battling and Luna and Ginny stood at the sides, watching. Hermioine then performed a special maneuver that Huffman had taught her, she got her blade under the handle of Demelza's word and yanked it upwards, causing it to fly out of Demelza's hand, Sister Metuenda screamed in anger, she threw the voodoo doll down the platform, Demelza screamed as though she was falling, and then when the doll hit the ground, Demelza passed out, Hermione ran over to the doll and pulled Demelza's hair out of it, it lost its control over her.

Sister Metuenda then swooped down and ran at Hermione and the others, her, Ginny and Luna ran out of the door being chased by Sister Metuenda, who flew at them with unnatural speed,

"Split up!" Hermione cried, they did it, Hermione continued to run forward, Ginny went left and Luna ran right. The hag flew forward in pursuit of Hermione, Hermione kept running and running and running, until, suddenly, she stopped running; she tripped over on a log and was on the ground. Sister Metuenda landed on the ground and started walking for Hermione; she turned around so she lay on her back, sitting up slightly, she saw the hag approach her and suddenly, she turned into a panther, completely shape-shifted, the panther walked closer and closer to her, it roared directly into her face and was about to attack her, claws at the ready, and then , it was hit in the face with a large, coloured ball of energy, Dantissa flew to Hermione's side, she had cast the ball. The panther flipped backwards and landed on it's feet, Dantissa fired again and the panther flipped again, it was in pain and now turned on Dantissa, it charged and Dantissa was ready, it leapt towards her,

"_Petrificus Totalus_!" yelled Hermione, the cat went stiff in mid-air and fell to the ground, "_Glacius, Reducto_!" she yelled, the panther froze in ice and then shattered, completely smashed into shards on the forest floor, "Thank you." said Hermione,

"You're welcome." said Dantissa,

"Ginny, Luna?" she called, they ran to the scene from the trees at different sides,

"What is it?" asked Ginny,

"I killed Sister Metuenda." said Hermione,

"Oh, okay." said Luna,

"Who's that?" asked Ginny, pointing at Dantissa,

"This is Dantissa." said Hermione,

"She's a genie." said Luna,

"Wow." said Ginny, "A real live genie." she said, gawping,

"Hello." said Dantissa,

"Hi." said Ginny, giggling,

"Did you know about the hags?" asked Luna,

"Yes I did." said Dantissa,

"And you didn't think to mention it?" asked Hermione,

"I did warn you." said Dantissa,

"When?" asked Hermione,

"I sent you and Luna some notes, trying to scare you off from their grasps." she said,

"Oh," said Ginny, "So _you_ sent the notes."

"That's right." said Dantissa,

"Anyway," said Luna, "We should go and get Demmy."

"Yes we should." said Hermione, standing up, "I don't suppose defeating the hags earned me your respect?" she asked,

"Not quite yet Mrs. Weasley." said Dantissa, "However, you have already earned the respect of the forest."

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione,

"You'll see." said Dantissa, she turned into multi-coloured smoke and flew away as the three of them walked back to the hag's lair to collect Demelza.


	32. Chapter 32

**Queen of the Forest**

Hermione, Ginny and Luna walked back into the hag's lair and saw that Demelza was still unconscious on the floor, they went to her side and kneeled down before her, Luna propped her head up and her eyes flickered,

"What-what happened?" asked Demelza,

"You passed out." said Hermione,

"How?" she asked,

"The hag dropped a doll." said Ginny,

"What?" asked Demelza, confused,

'We'll explain later." said Hermione,

"Come on, get up." said Luna, the four of them stood up,

"Did you defeat Sister Metuenda?" asked Demelza,

"Yes." said Hermione,

"Wow, how?" she asked,

"Turned her to ice and shattered her." said Hermione,

"What?" asked Ginny,

"I'll tell you later, right now let's just get out of here." said Hermione,

"Yeah, this place is really freaking me out." said Demelza,

"What were all of those bones in the basement then?" asked Ginny,

"I'm guessing that they were the hags' previous meals." said Hermione,

"Ew." said Ginny,

"Thank you all for saving me by the way, I'm very touched." said Luna,

"No problem." said Hermione,

"Yeah," said Demelza, "None at all." she said, the four of them walked out of the front door and were immediately greeted by herds of cheers, trumpets, bands, clapping, jumping, music and more,

"What the Hell?" asked Ginny, Hermione looked out upon the crowd and saw that it was filled with basimites, montemites, pure white, winged horses, pirates, and in front of them: Dantissa, flooding with colour.

"Well done girls, you did good." she said,

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione,

"You defeated the hags, they've ruled over this forest for too long." said Dantissa,

"Yay for Her-My-Nee!" yelled a group of montemites,

"And Loo-Na!" cried some basimites, Hermione waved to them,

"So, what's this?" asked Hermione,

"This, why, this is a parade." said Dantissa, they cheered louder,

"Oh, yay, I love parades." said Luna, happily,

"We've prepared a float for you." said Dantissa, gesturing behind her, there was a parade float covered in different colours and types of flowers, "If you will?"

"Of course." said Demelza, she walked up to it, followed by Luna, followed by Ginny, Hermione smiled at Dantissa who smiled back, it was the first time that she had seen Dantissa smile, she followed on from Ginny.

The four of them climbed onto the fancy, velvet, metal-lined chairs on the flowery float and it began to move. The four of them waved to the crowd that carried on for a while. The phoenix flew out from the trees and led the float along as the crowd cheered. The pirates flew their hats in the air and the basimites and montemites jumped up and down in glee. The float carried on between the trees and Hermione was suddenly lost in a trance due the phoenix song that had started coming from then phoenix that was leading them.

They moved on through the crowd and trees, they went along the beach where all of the mermaids had popped their top-halves out of the water and cheered merrily as they went on by. Hermione smiled and waved at them, still listening to the phoenix song. The float carried on and soon floated along the river, they sailed on down it still with a crowd and went down the waterfall where they were drifted down to the lake by steam clouds. Plimpies flipped arches over them and they floated out of the water.

They carried on and were met by four of the horses, they flew alongside the float, two on each side, then, the float stopped, as did the phoenix song and the phoenix itself rose out to the trees, the four horses went in front of them,

"Get on!" yelled the crowd, the four of them did so, each one of them got onto a horse, they then ran and took off, synchronized with each other, they looked in the other's direction and smiled.

"This is cool." said Demelza,

"Sure is Dem, have you ever flown on a horse before?" asked Ginny,

"Once or twice." said Hermione,

"I've ridden on thestrals, that's similar." said Luna,

"Yeah, me too." said Ginny,

"How come I'm the only one who hasn't flown on a horse-type thing?" asked Demelza,

"Just enjoy that you are now." said Hermione, the wind blowing in her hair, she had become accustomed to flying, she had ridden on a thestral and on Buckbeak and one of those horses before and now found it fun. They came to a loss of height and landed, Hermione recognised where they were, they were at the tree that led back to the other forest. The four of them dismounted and the crowd cheered again and waved goodbye, Demelza walked out of the forest, then did Luna, then did Ginny and Hermione gave one last wave to the forest, she walked through the tree and joined the other three,

"And this time we don't go back." said Hermione cautiously,

The next day, Hermione and Ron walked to the entrance of the Quidditch stadium; it was Ginny's final,

"I can't believe that she's in the final two leagues running, not many teams can say that." said Ron,

"No, they can't," said Hermione, "Particularly not the Chudley Cannons." she said jokingly, he laughed sarcastically and gave her a kiss before entering. They handed in their free tickets and found a place in the stands; they met up with Harry, Neville and Hannah,

"Hey Harry." said Hermione, "Are you doing alright?" she asked subtly,

"Yeah," he said, "I'm taking an anger management course at the moment." he said,

"Good for you." said Hermione,

"Thanks." he said,

"Hello Neville, Hannah." she said,

"Hi Hermione." said Hannah, Luna then emerged to them,

"Oh, hello Hannah," she said friendly like,

"Hi Luna," said Hannah, they hugged each other

"Wait, you two are friends?" asked Hermione,

"Why yes, why?" asked Luna,

"Nothing." said Hermione casually,

"You know what," said Luna,

"What?" asked Hannah,

"I was thinking about starting a weekly game of cards." she said,

"That sounds nice." said Hermione,

"Yes, just us three, Ginny and Demmy." she said,

"Cool." said Hannah

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, PLEASE WELCOME THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES!" said the voice,

"Ooh, it's starting." said Luna excitedly; Ginny and the other Holyhead Harpies flew onto the pitch in their robes of dark green.

"AND NOW WELCOME THE CAERPHILLY CATAPULTS!" he boomed and seven new players flew onto the pitch in robes of alternating light green and scarlet vertical stripes. They were dazzling.

"AND THE HARPIES ARE STRAIGHT IN THERE AS GINNY WEASLEY GRABES THE QUAFFLE, SHE THROWS IT ALREADY AND IT IS…DEFLECTED BY DAI LLEWELLYN, ANGELINA JOHONSON GRABS THE QUAFFLE, SHE PASSES TO VALMAI MORGAN WHO SHOOTS, IT GOES RIGHT PASSED LLEWELLYN'S EAR AND …TEN POINTS TO THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES! THE CATAPULTS HAD BETTER GET INTO THE GAME, GLICINDA MCKENZIE HAS THE QUAFFLE, SHE ZOOMS ACROSS THE PITCH AND IS HIT BY A BLUDGER FROM GWENOG JONES, SHE DROPS THE QUAFFLE AND IT'S CAUGHT BY GINGER KITZINGER WHO SHOOTS, DORABELLA RICOLLETI PUTS HER LEG OUT BUT THE QUAFFLE HITS IT ON THE WAY IN, TEN POINTS TO THE CAERPHILLY CATAPULTS!" he yelled and half of the crowd cheered, the two teams were now tying and all was to play for, Hermione looked at Ginny, and all of the team really, each one looked determined to win this match.

The game had now been going on for an hour and the Caerphilly Catapults were in the lead,

"GINNY WAESLEY HAS THE QUAFFLE AGAIN AND SCORES, ONE HUNDRED AND TEN POINTS TO THE HARPIES, HARRY MANNERMAN HAS THE QUAFFLE BUT HE'S HIT BY A BLUDGER FROM ROCHELE APPLEWHITE, GINGER KITZINGER GRABS THE QUAFFLE, SHE SHOOTS, BUT IT'S DEFLECTED BY DORABELLA RICOLLETI, GLICINA MCKENZIE NOW HAS IT, SHE SHOOTS AS WELL AND…IT'S AGAIN DEFLECTED BY RICOLLETI, THE HARPIES HAVE THEIR GAME FACES ON TODAY! MARIANNA HAS SIGHT ON THE SNITCH, SHE'S PURSUING IT, BUT ROLLAND RICKMANIA IS PUSUING HER, BOTH HAVE SIGHT, MANNERMAN HAS THE QUAFFLE AND SCORES, ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY POINTS TO THE CATAPULTS! ROMAIN IS HIT BY A BLUDGER FROM HOLLY MISSISSIPPI AND RICKMANIA IS ON THE SNITCH, GWENOG JONES HAS A BLUDGER HIT HIM AND MARIANNA IS BACK ON THE SNITCH, GINNY WEASLEY FIRES THE QUAFFLE, ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY POINTS TO THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES, MARIANNA HAS HER FINGERS STRETCHED AND…SHE'S CAUGHT IT, ROMAIN HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH, GIVING THE HARPIES TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY AND LEAVES THE CATAPULTS AT ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY, THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES WIN THE MATCH AND THE LEAGUE!"

The crowd cheered including Hermione, Ginny had won the league and everything was coming together happily.


	33. Chapter 33

**Anniversary**

May faded into June, or, to be more specific, June the sixth, yes, it had been exactly a year since the day that Hermione Weasley had wed to Ron Weasley and today was the day to celebrate their love for one another. Hermione woke up that morning feeling happy, she thought, that even though it was now a happy place again, not to return to the forest.

"Hey honey, do you know what today is?" she asked,

"Is it Monday?" he asked,

"Well first of all, no it isn't and second of all, it's our wedding anniversary." said Hermione,

"Oh yes, I knew that." he said, sitting up in bed,

"A whole year of being married." she said,

"Yeah, it's been a good one." said Hermione,

"And we're doing something special tonight." said Ron,

"Ooh, what?" asked Hermione,

"Well, muggles yeah, they have these weird things called _cinemas_." he said,

"Yes, I know what a cinema is." said Hermione,

"Well I found out and decided that we had to go just before we go to a romantic restaurant." he said,

"Sounds good." said Hermione,

"Oh, and I got you these." he said, he pulled a bunch of yellow tiger lilies from beside the bed,

"Oh, thank you, they're lovely." she said,

"Do you recognise them?" he asked,

"Well I doubt I've walked passed this exact bouquet of flowers before, the chances of that would be-" she started,

"No, they're the same as the centre-pieces from our wedding." he said,

"So they are, you remembered?" she asked, shocked,

"Always the tone of surprise." he said,

"You're damn right, _you_ remembered something." she said,

"Fair enough." he agreed,

"And on the topic of giving gifts, I got you this." she said, she pulled out a vintage bottle of mead.

"Wow." he said accepting it, "What year?" he asked,

"Fifteen eighty three." said Hermione,

"Old then?" he said,

"Just a bit." she said,

"Well thank you." he said,

"Thank _you_." she said, they kissed each other and fell back on the bed.

Hermione walked out of her house with Ron after getting ready for work, they got on the porch, closed the door and gave each other a goodbye kiss and each of them dissapparated.

Hermione appeared outside of an out of order public toilet and went into it; she stood in queue with the rest of the Ministry witches waiting to get into a cubicle. When she did, she stood in the surprisingly clean, odd feeling water of the toilet bowl and pulled the chain. She was then walking out of a fireplace in a swirl of bright, green flames, her feet now dry and walking across the main floor of the Ministry, she walked passed the fountain of the wizard, witch, house elf, goblin and centaur and to the lift. Once in the lift she went down to the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. She walked in and out of the corridors, passed her boss's, Mr. Sadderick's, office and gave a wave to him and he briefly waved back to her. She then made her way to the S.P.E.W office, where, surprisingly, her staff were there before she was, Tatyana, Aisha, Breeana, Freddie, Rupert and Dalis were sitting at there desks and Hermione walked to her own,

"Hello Hermione." said Rupert,

"Morning." said Freddie,

"How are you?" asked Aisha,

"Fine thanks." said Hermione,

"Hey ya." said Tatyana,

"Good Morning." said Breeana,

"Hello mistress," said Dalis,

"Hello all." said Hermione sitting at her desk and pulling out paperwork.

After doing a morning's load of work, Hermione went to the lift to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement where she went to have lunch with Harry, Ron and Neville,

"Hello." said Hermione; she saw that Hannah was there also,

"We still on for poker tonight?" asked Hannah,

"Yes, my place, right?" she asked,

"Yes." said Hannah,

'Excuse me, will this make you late for our date?" asked Ron,

"No," said Hermione, "We're doing it straight after work with Ginny, Luna and Demelza."

"Oh, okay." said Ron,

"So how's the S.P.E.W going?" asked Neville,

"It's going fine Neville, thanks for asking." she said,

"No problem." said Neville,

"And how are you Harry?" asked Hermione,

"I'm doing fine, Ginny's being really supportive through this anger course thing." said Harry,

"Good." said Hermione, she kissed Ron,

"Excuse me, people are eating." said Neville,

"Leave them, its cute." said Hannah,

"Yeah, we've been married for a year." said Ron,

"A year exactly, it's our anniversary." said Hermione,

"Congratulations." said Harry, "I owe Ginny two sickles." he said, Hermione gave him a scowl, "I'm only joking," he said slightly scared.

Hermione walked back down the halls and was stopped by Kinsley,

"Mrs. Weasley?" he asked,

"Yes?" she replied,

"I have some good news." he said,

"Do tell." said Hermione,

"Thanks to 'outside interference' they've gotten rid of the slave trade centre." said Kingsley,

"That's great." said Hermione,

"Yes it is, I also have some other good news but you'll find that out later." he said, smiling,

"Um, okay." said Hermione." she walked onwards, smiling that her office _was_ making a difference.

She walked back into the S.P.E.W office and none of her workers were back from their lunch break yet, Hermione sat down at her desk and the door immediately opened, it was Danielle

"Oh good, I caught you alone." she said,

"Yes, what is it?" asked Hermione,

"Well first of all, well done on catching the stabber and for cutting his hand off, I thought that was a nice touch." she said,

"Thank you." said Hermione, "And second of all?" she asked,

"Second of all," said Danielle, she held up her left hand to reveal a huge diamond engagement ring, "Kingsley proposed last night."

"Wow." said Hermione, standing up to look closer at the ring, "So that was the other good news he was talking about." said Hermione,

"I should hope so." said Danielle, smiling,

"Yay, you're the boss's wife." said Hermione,

"Yes I am, but that's not the only thing." said Danielle,

"There's more?" asked Hermione,

"Yes." said Danielle,

"What?" she asked,

"I would like you to be my Maid of Honour." she said,

"I accept." said Hermione immediately, "I can't believe you'd pick me." she hugged her,

"Well, you're my first real female friend in a while." said Danielle, "Which sounds a little weird considering that you used to be one of my pupils, but still."

"You're getting married." said Hermione,

"I'm getting married!" yelled Danielle.

Hermione apparated by her house after work, she went inside and pulled out some snacks around her table in her dining room, she also found a deck of playing cards and some poker chips. There was a ring at the door bell, Hermione answered it to Ginny, Demelza, Luna, and Hannah, she invited them all in and they sat around the table, playing poker and gossiping,

"So Kingsley is getting married." said Hermione,

"No way." said Ginny,

"It's true." said Hermione,

"To who?" asked Demelza,

"Danielle." she said, there jaws dropped,

"I wasn't aware that they were a couple, nevertheless, I hope that they are happy together." said Luna,

"Me too." said Ginny,

"I'm sorry, who's Danielle?" asked Hannah,

"Oh, she was our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher in our last year at Hogwarts." said Demelza,

"Yeah," said Ginny, "And she owns a shop in Hogsmeade now called Wiz Kidz."

"Oh, I've been there, it's amazing, _she's _the owner, she's so nice?" said Hannah,

"Yes." said Hermione,

"I've been meaning to go there, we should go tomorrow." said Luna,

"Definitely." said Hannah,

"Of course." said Demelza,

"Oh yeah." said Ginny,

"I'll be there." said Hermione.

After a good gossip with the girls, Hermione got ready for her date with Ron; she put on a nice outfit and did her face up as well as her hair. That night the two of them went to the cinema which fascinated Ron, particularly the pop-corn dispenser,

"You just pull the thing, and it all comes out?" he asked,

"Yes." said Hermione, laughing, after seeing a good romantic comedy which Ron enjoyed a surprising amount, they went to dinner at the restaurant, and after a lovely meal and dessert, Ron simply said,

"I love you."

"I love you too." said Hermione.

**Completed on 29th February 2012**


End file.
